Facebook Marketplace bandit Carson Hocevar explains elaborate lie about buying Chili's branch

NASCAR Cup Series star Carson Hocevar has admitted that he wasn't entirely honest in a recent social media post, in which he claimed to have bought his local branch of Chili's.

The Facebook post began, excitedly, 'I BOUGHT MY HOMETOWN CHILI’S LOCATION IN PORTAGE, MICHIGAN'.

For a driver notorious for making unusual purchases – mostly car-related, admittedly – on Facebook Marketplace, Hocevar (who is sponsored by the restaurant chain) making the move seemed unlikely, but not beyond the realm of possibility.

The post continued: “I am excited to announce after seeing this post [from a local radio station claiming the Chili's location would be torn down], I made a call and got a hold of my friends at Chili’s. I wanted to be able to save this location as it’s very close to home.

"It shocked me to find out the folks at 107.7 RKR had no base to their claims, and this location was open. I figured it would be worthy investment to still invest and so I am proud to announce that I bought this Chili’s location in my hometown.”

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Hocevar explains Chili's 'purchase'

Aside from the post on Facebook, Hocevar also mentioned the 'purchase' in an Instagram video, in which he listed proposed improvements including painting the outside of the store like his Ride The ‘Dente No. 77 Chevrolet, the booths being refitted to allow for napping, a ramp around the store for go-kart racing, and a slip-and-slide for senior citizens.

If you hadn't figured it out yet...yeah, Carson Hocevar does not own a branch of Chili's. In fact, it was an idea he came up with to better publicize the fact that the radio station's original post was complete baloney.

Speaking to reporters in Charlotte this weekend, he explained: "So, in Portage some radio station made some clickbait thing about the Chili's shutting down, and [Chili's] asked me if I would promote it, say it's not closed, and I was like...can I just say I bought it? Until the first payment hits?

"They loved it, so that's kind of how you fight fire with fire nowadays. Clickbait, you gotta fight it with another clickbait. The radio station made a retraction that got about 11 likes, but the original post got about 600 comments and 500 shares or something."

There you have it. Fighting for wins, fighting against online misinformation. Your new favorite driver.

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