NASCAR launches “Rising” docu-series featuring Carson Hocevar, Rajah Caruth, and Jesse Love

NASCAR has released a trailer for its new docuseries titled Rising. As the name suggests, the five-episode project features young rising drivers, including Carson Hocevar, Rajah Caruth, and Jesse Love.

Hocevar is a second-year Cup Series driver who races for Spire Motorsports. Caruth, meanwhile, currently competes in the Craftsman Truck Series, but is bound for the Xfinity Series (or O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026) next year. As for Love, he is part of Richard Childress Racing's program in the second-tier series.

The docuseries, premiering soon for free on YouTube, will follow the lives of three young NASCAR drivers, both on and off the track, this season. On the track, both Caruth and Love qualified for the 2025 playoffs in their respective series. Hocevar didn't make the postseason, but had several moments, including the three-way battle for the lead on the final lap against Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR reporter Adam Stern shared the announcement of Rising on X and wrote:

“(NASCAR) has developed a new five-episode docu-series called "Rising" that will air for free on (YouTube) and follows around Carson Hocevar, Jesse Love, and Rajah Caruth during their 2025 on and off the track. NASCAR worked with Words + Pictures.”

Rising is set to debut on YouTube on November 17, with episodes dropping daily. The series joins NASCAR: Full Speed on Netflix as another major docuseries bringing the world of stock car racing to mainstream audiences.

NASCAR also released a parody trailer on YouTube. In the clip, the three young drivers humorously mock the dramatic tone often seen in sports documentaries. Hocevar jokingly claims he was once left at a gas station after a karting race as a kid, a playful nod to a story about four-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen.

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“I don't care what people think or say”: Carson Hocevar on criticisms for racing in NASCAR

Carson Hocevar has drawn criticism early in his NASCAR Cup Series career for his aggressive driving style. However, the 22-year-old driver made it clear that he isn’t bothered by the backlash and plans to keep racing his own way.

In an interview with Jeff Gluck on The Athletic, the #77 Spire Motorsports driver said:

“I think the consensus is, ‘He doesn’t try. He doesn’t put in any effort. He just shows up.’ I feel like I do. I’ve been alive for 22 years, and I’ve been analyzing racing since I was 4… Now I’ve done this long enough that I can show up ‘blind,’ but I’m not actually blind. I’ve got so many years of watching and studying.”

He added:

“I run races a thousand times in my head. I’m running through races and ideas. That’s more powerful for me to envision it all than to sit there and watch… I don’t care what people think or say unless they’re in this hauler with me. There’s reasons to the madness of not wanting to look at that stuff. I don’t want to mess up the ideas I already have. That’s the process that works for me.”

Perhaps Hocevar’s most heated moment this season came during the inaugural race in Mexico City, when he clashed with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The veteran driver was visibly frustrated after Hocevar continued racing aggressively despite being a lap down and even threatened him afterward. The tension sparked a proposal for a charity boxing match, one that Ryan Blaney jokingly said he’d bet on the Hyak Motorsports driver to win.

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Edited by Zarec Sanchez