Folks, not many can rattle Rowdy and get off without consequence. But the 2024 Rookie of the Year, Carson Hocevar, has somehow managed to do that! Let’s go back to the Ambetter Health 400. Kyle Busch in the race got slid across the track by the #77 driver. And Busch’s reaction: “I don’t care if I wreck the whole f—— field… I’m going to wreck his a–.” And we know Rowdy would have done it without a second thought. But lucky for Hocevar, Busch left him off the hook. Which was surprising with the kind of history the two have. Not many know this, but Busch and Hocevar go way back. Recently, the RCR driver shared a past incident with a piece of advice for Hocevar! But the young blood is in no mood to listen!
And it wasn’t just Busch that he upset in the Atlanta race. It was Ryan Blaney next, Hocevar spun him around! Then he traded paint with Ross Chastain for quite some time. And in the final stages of the race, he hard bumped Christopher Bell, who was leading the race. Finally, he almost shoved Kyle Larson out of the way to take P2 in the race, which was his best Cup Series finish. Thanks to this, Hocevar had a long queue of drivers waiting to have a chat with him after the race. But clearly, no advice has worked! Carson Hocevar doesn’t plan to change his ways.
Carson Hocevar might remain as nonchalant as ever
Look, we won’t say Hocevar hasn’t calmed down after Atlanta. He got a P13 in COTA, followed by three finishes outside the top 30. Even in the recent Homestead Miami race, he got a DNF. And there haven’t been many complaints over his race antics, since Atlanta. Ross Chastain was among the ones ranting after Atlanta, He had said, “All of his moves almost worked. He almost won. That’s great. I just don’t think it was what was best. Definitely wasn’t the best for me at that moment, I lost a chance to win the race because of him and I want to understand why he did that. He told me the reason, and I don’t have to agree with it.” But Hocevar’s remained in the good books ever since, but maybe not deliberately.
To be fair, the Spire Motorsports driver has not shown the same speed to compete with the top guys. And naturally, he’s frustrated. He wants to run top 5s, he wants wins. In a recent X post, he shared a meme with the text, “So here’s the plan. Consistency is out the window. It’s time like this we’re glad it’s win you’re in. So now we have to win.”
Well, Hocevar is embracing the playoff format that everyone despises, but that might be what the sophomore driver needs. Despite winning ROTY, the runner-up to him, Josh Berry, has already notched up a win this season, at Las Vegas. So Hocevar certainly has a chip on his shoulder, and now that he is focused on winning, he might activate that chip and go all out. The young driver knows that he won’t be able to compete every week against such an experienced group of drivers. However, all he needs is one winning run to secure a playoff berth, and it looks like he doesn’t mind ruffling some feathers for that.
— Carson Hocevar (@CarsonHocevar) March 23, 2025
Carson Hocevar seems ready to win at any cost as he tried to do at Atlanta. Christopher Bell had said about that last lap in Atlanta, “If there’s a hole, he’s (Hocevar) going to take it. If there’s not a hole, he’s going to make one.” So we’d say the Cup drivers need to be aware, that an Atlanta 2.0 might be coming sooner than expected. Hocevar also said after the Atlanta career-high finish, “We’re here to win races, not be a boy band,” emphasizing his love for aggressive driving.
Well, aggression is good, but running in hot waters with the pack might not be a great move. Also, no one knows this better than Kyle Busch. And Hocevar’s attitude seems to be in line with what Rowdy recently had to say about him. So, Busch was running a Super Late Model race in Michigan and Hocevar must have been 13-14 years old. In the race, as Busch claimed, “He (Hocevar) comes right up alongside of me, sideswipes me, puts me into the front stretch fence, and goes on. And I’m like, ‘What the h— just happened?’” Busch was more mad because Hocevar didn’t even show the courtesy of apologizing. Not back then and not now after what happened in Atlanta.
“Never nothing after the fact, never a sorry, ‘Hey, my bad.’ Like, same thing right now. He hasn’t learned not one thing because he hasn’t been under someone’s wing this entire time,” Busch added. And Busch thinks the problem is a lack of guidance. Like how Josh Berry was mentored by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his Late Model days, or Christopher Bell was mentored by Busch during his time with Kyle Busch Motorsports in the truck series.
Hocevar can be aggressive, but he needs to channel it the right way. He’s got the skill. And a mentor can help with that! Maybe Ross Chastain can ‘officially’ do that for him!
Can Chastain help Hocevar calm down?
Hocevar is being called NASCAR’s next villain. A title Ross Chastain had two years back. So he gets it! Be it punching Noah Gragson or being in hot waters with the sport’s biggest names, be it Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, or even Chase Elliott. But over the years, we haven’t seen that same aggression. Maybe it was Rick Hendrick’s warning in 2023 after Chastain continually wrecked Kyle Larson. Mr. H said, “I don’t care if he’s (Chastain) driving a Chevrolet if he wrecks our cars. I don’t care. I’ve told Chevrolet that. If you wreck us, you’re going to get it back.” Even at the COTA race, Chastain dived too hard into turn one that spun Chase Elliott around. When Elliott came back for payback, Chastain just moved aside and let the #9 driver pass.
Well, we are not saying Hocevar should completely turn off the aggression like Chastain, but he can get some tips to be calmer. Or how to not escalate situations. And Hocevar-Chastain can be a good mentee-mentor pair. Look at their recent exchange. So, Chastain was running the Truck Series race at Homestead and Hocevar was the pit interviewer. The watermelon farmer turned race car diver could not help but take a funny jibe at the youngster. Speaking to Hocevar during the ‘drivers only’ broadcast, Chastain said, “I’d say I’m the most relieved though that you’ve got a microphone in your hand and not a steering wheel though.” This is the kind of relationship a mentor-mentee should have.
And Chastain already is a mentor of sorts for the 22-year-old. He’s always supported him since his Truck Series days at Niece Motorsports and believes in Hocevar’s skill. Remember Chastain had previously said, “I think back to what I was doing at 20 years old and I wasn’t that fast. I am constantly amazed at how he makes speed with these cars. And then off the track, he has enough people to deal with around him that is there to help him grow and grow with him for the long haul. Because he’s so fast, they are invested in growing with him.”Folks, next up is Martinsville. Let’s see if Hocevar tries to pull something off there.
What do you think about Carson Hocevar’s antics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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