BROOKLYN >> Carson Hocevar could well be the face of the NASCAR Cup Series, and it could come as soon as Sunday’s running of the Firekeepers 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Hocevar is the youngest full-time driver in the Cup series at age 22 and he will have a large group of fans trying to watch him become the first Michigan-born driver to win a Cup race at the two-mile speedway.

Hocevar grew up in Portage, near Kalamazoo, before he moved to North Carolina when he was 18. He became a fan by watching the races on TV at age 3 and started racing quarter midgets at age 6 after attending races at Kalamazoo Speedway.

Fans love Hocevar for his ability to show speed and his aggressive style, while others may despise him for wrecking their driver. Hocevar offers no apologies, saying he’s just trying to get the best result he can for the underfunded Spire Motorsports team.

Hocevar was a fan of former Cup star Dale Earnhardt Jr., a broadcaster with Amazon Prime that will televise Sunday’s race, and the late Bryan Clauson, a USAC quarter midget driver who died after a midget car crash in Kansas in 2016.

Earnhardt talked about Hocevar’s impressive second-place showing in last weekend’s Cup race in Nashville. He said following the race he likes Hocevar, both as a fan and broadcaster, because he adds color to the sport. But Earnhardt didn’t like Hocevar’s overaggressive style where he made contact with the back end of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car, which sent Stenhouse into the wall and out of the race.

Still, Hocevar was flattered to be mentioned by Earnhardt.

“It’s cool that he has positive or negative thoughts about me,” Hocevar said. “He texts me and gives me advice. It’s so cool that I’m at the forefront of his mind at times because I was such a big fan of his, going to my first race at MIS 17 years ago wearing a Dale Jr. T-shirt.”

What also makes it cool is that Hocevar is getting noticed while competing for Spire Motorsports, which had a driver 32nd in points two years ago. Hocevar’s arrival resulted in a great improvement last year, when he was 21st in points with six top-10 finishes as a rookie.

“Spire was known back in 2019 as a team that just fielded cars and some people in NASCAR didn’t like it,” said Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. “Now we’re 17th (in points) and we’ve finished second twice and are plenty fast to make the playoffs. It’s quite an unbelievable story how they borrowed every dime to get cars on track and now we have a chance to win a Cup race.”

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney had high praise for Hocevar despite getting bumped by him when they were battling for position in Atlanta earlier this season, resulting in a long slide before spinning out late in the race.

Blaney finished fourth at Atlanta, two spots behind Hocevar.

“He’s a young driver who has a lot of talent,” said Blaney, the 2023 Cup series champion. “He’s got the toughest thing down which is he’s found speed. He’s a little wild, but everyone learns as they gain experience.“He’s got a lot of talent and he’s going to have a great career. I know he’s going to give me fits.”

Hocevar has already given drivers fits, a reason he sits 17th in points and is four points shy of the cutoff point for the playoffs.

So, what would a successful season be for Hocevar?

“I feel like winning a race to get into the playoffs,” he said. “We’re plenty fast to make the playoffs. We’re sitting 17th right now but could be fifth to ninth if we didn’t have mechanical problems, like blowing an engine at Charlotte while running second. You never know when that win will come, but we are plenty capable of making it happen.”

Hocevar wants to reach Victory Lane on Sunday in front of his parents, Scott and Amy, and plenty of family and friends.

“It would be super special to have Michigan be my first win, would make me the first Michigan-born driver to do it,” said Hocevar, who finished 10th in the Cup race at MIS last year.

“I enjoy running there a lot. It’s super sensitive to temperatures. It’s so large and difficult to get a handle on things, going 200 into (Turn) 1 and then asking it to move 90 degrees. It’s a fun track.”

Hocevar has had a busy week. Since arriving in Michigan on Monday, he traveled to Grand Rapids, where he won the race at Berlin Raceway on Tuesday. He then attended a 50th anniversary party for his sponsor Harold Zeigler (and CEO Aaron Zeigler), who owns car dealerships in the Kalamazoo area, before traveling to MIS to practice and qualify for the truck series race on Friday.

“I enjoy running them a lot,” Hocevar said of the trucks. “It’s good to get more laps on the track and gives me a chance to win a race, too.”

After that, Hocevar will go through practice and qualifying in his Cup car on Saturday to prepare for Sunday’s race.

Firekeepers Casino 400

When: Saturday, practice, 9:30 a.m., qualifying, 10:40 a.m.; Sunday, race, 2 p.m.

Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn

TV: Sunday’s race on Prime Video and MAX

Race distance: 200 laps, 400 miles

2024 winner: Tyler Reddick

Support race: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DQS Solutions & Staffing 200, noon Saturday (Fox)