Carson Hocevar described dirt racing at the Gateway Dirt Nationals as “fun” and “real racing.”

After battling his way into the A-Main on Friday night by finishing third in the first B-Main behind Wil Herrington and Jonathan Davenport and holding off Steve Sheppard, Hocevar spoke to FloRacing’s Chris Moore about competing in the Dome and in a dirt late model. He said, “I mean it’s just fun to be back here. These are a lot of my NASCAR guys. Guys at the shop that grew up doing this that they get to go have fun with Jeff [Dickerson], and then Tim Clauson, and everybody here.”

“It’s a lot of fun,” Hocevar reiterated. “Just race. Real racing. Not a lot of aero or engineering. I’m not looking at laptops and data. I’m looking at Flo and trying to figure what lane works and everything. And these guys are super good. I get to do this, now, hopefully a lot more. I get to do this again. I always show up at these big shows. I make it really, really difficult. So I’m glad I’m not too out of my element here. We can run good.”

Hocevar then assessed his B-Main performance, “That B was okay. I just didn’t do a very good job. I was watching the billboard and got too conservative, which is pretty lame. So hopefully we can get in the show and move forward.”

With his third place finish in the B-Main, Hocevar started the feature at the rear of the field in 17th. He stayed around the rear for most of the race and was able to move forward with drivers ahead of him getting involved in wrecks or having mechanical issues such as Kyle Bronson, Tanner English, Hudson O’Neal, and Tyler Carpenter. With 9 laps to go, he was the cause for a caution when he spun. However, on the following restart he was able to gain a few more positions as Wil Herrington saw his entire right rear wheel off after making contact with a spinning Donald McIntosh. Drake Troutman also suffered a flat left rear tire due to contact from McIntosh. Hocevar ended up finishing in 11th.

Hocevar will start 3rd in the fourth qualifier with Dan Ebert, Clay Harris, Wil Herrington, Hudson O’Neal, Jeffrey Ledford, Gordy Gundaker, Dylan Knowles, Jimmy Owens, and Rusty Schlenk.

NEXT: Kyle Bronson Roughs Up And Cusses Out Brenden Smith After Getting Fenced Racing For Second