On Monday night, Carson Hocevar swapped his fire suit for a sharply tailored gray Christian Dior suit, marking a rare fashion moment for the 23-year-old NASCAR driver. Far from his usual trackside attire, the ensemble represented a bold new look for someone who thrives in a race car.
How did Hocevar, a driver still early in his Cup Series career, land an invitation to the 2026 Met Gala?
“They called NASCAR and asked,” Hocevar told me Friday after truck series qualifying at Watkins Glen. “They watched me win Talladega and must have saw the Chili’s suit and thought I was into fashion with how crazy our suits get and invited me. It was a great time.”
But securing the invite was only half the challenge—getting a stylish suit together on short notice required help. Enter Cassidy Towriss, the Cadillac F1 team chief brand advisor and wife of Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, the parent company of Spire Motorsports, where Hocevar drives in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“She knew exactly who to hook me up with,” Hocevar said. “I went to Texas for the race last weekend and went and got fitted and got everything. She was a lifesaver in the whole deal.”
Hocevar noted that he had multiple suit options but favored the first one he tried on. “It was luckily that my favorite was the gray one and it was the first one. I didn’t want to be like, ‘I like the first one’ because they are going to think I just don’t want to try anymore on. … They all liked the first one. They handled everything. I was like, ‘I have no preconceived notion, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. You just take care of me.’”
When asked if he ever considered showing up in his fire suit, Hocevar laughed: “It would be funny. I would have been a lot more comfortable if I just had a sponsor hat on.”
On the E! telecast, Hocevar mentioned he hoped to meet Sabrina Carpenter, but that didn’t happen. Still, he said he encountered plenty of celebrities, though he declined to name a favorite. “It was shocking how many people knew of NASCAR and knew of me,” he said. “There was a bunch of people I got to meet. It was just an opportunity and experience that I never thought I would go to and enjoy. It’s a total different universe and world than I’m used to.”
The experience gave Hocevar a social media boost, but the biggest highlight might have been impressing his number one fan. “I don’t know if I made my mom as proud driving any vehicle … compared to how proud she was and excited I was on her favorite channel,” he said. “The only uptick would maybe be a Hallmark Christmas special. If I was on that, that might top the Met Gala. But she was super excited.”
