NASCAR ace Carson Hocevar wins iRacing event...now he wishes he was doing the real thing

The NASCAR Cup Series season might be done and dusted, but that doesn't mean Carson Hocevar isn't racing.

Indeed, like most NASCAR drivers, the Spire Motorsports star is keeping busy by competing in the off-season, including virtually, as he demonstrated by racing in and winning the iRacing Chili Bowl this week.

Whilst the prestigious dirt racing event will take place January 12-17, the iRacing Chili Bowl took place from December 16-21 as an iRacing special event.

iRacing's special event calendar features a selection of the world’s most compelling races across numerous disciplines, and this time around, Hocevar was competing in the Super Session, which is designed to showcase the best of the best in any given iRacing discipline.

Driving his midget car with a virtual Chilis paint scheme, Hocevar only went and won the race, beating Chris Parmley by 0.148 seconds to take the black and white checkered flag.

Hocevar celebrated his win on his Instagram story, but now revealed he wishes he were racing in the real thing.

"Won the iRacing Chili Bowl last night," Hocevar shared to his Instagram story. "Wish I was racing the real thing this year."

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Hocevar made his real-life Chili Bowl debut back in 2022 despite limited experience on dirt, and followed it up in 2023 by featuring in some of the preliminary events.

As of right now, though, he will not be taking part in next month's event in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There will be plenty of other NASCAR talent on display, however, including former winners of the event in Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.

In this year's event, Larson will pilot the No. 1K midget car from his own Kyle Larson Racing stable, with sponsorship from EMI, Speedway, HendrickCars.com, FloRacing, Roto Rooter, JVI Group and Albaugh Your Alternative.

Elsewhere, Christopher Bell will be driving the No. 21CB also under his own ownership, with backing from Spike, TRD, Rheem, PristineAuction.com and Toyota.

There is further interest from the Cup Series in Bell's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs, who is also set to take part, piloting the No. 84 for CB Industries.

Elsewhere, Kyle Busch is set to run a car in the event through Kyle Busch Motorsports, although it will be ARCA driver Gavan Boschele driving, not the two-time Cup Series champion.

In terms of O'Reilly Auto Parts Series participation, Sheldon Creed will be running in the No. 94C for Ninety-Four Racing, whilst Corey Day will also be taking part in the No. 41 with Willie Kahne listed as his car owner.