In the 2025 NASCAR season, Carson Hocevar has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The Spire Motorsports youngster has typically been impressive on the race track and become a popular figure in the community. However, his popularity has not exactly extended towards his colleagues in any of the three National Series in NASCAR. Sometimes, he can be a bit aggressive on the track, but has tried to play peacemaker afterwards.
At the Atlanta race in the Cup Series, Hocevar ruffled quite a few feathers. From sliding Kyle Busch up the track to bumping Ryan Blaney while entering a turn, Hocevar was a menace. His mentor, Ross Chastain, even confronted him after the race, along with Ryan Blaney. The Spire #77 clinched his best finish at P-2, yet all the headlines were about his antics on track. Hocevar’s response was simple: “We’re here to win races, not to be in a boy band.”
Since then, Carson has been relatively quiet, however, the Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway last weekend saw his villain arc emerge yet again, and this time, he didn’t back it up with the ferocity he normally does, leading to insiders questioning whether he’s ready to embrace the persona he portrays.
Carson Hocevar: Choosing between hero and villain
The Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway was a classic. Hocevar led most of the final stage and was poised to win until a hard-charging Layne Riggs made it from 16th to Hocevar’s bumper in the final lap. Riggs shoved Hocevar and himself into the wall, but Carson kept his cool. Both drivers did not end up spinning out as Hocevar maintained his lead to the checkered flag, and had a rather expressive message for Layne Riggs as he crossed the line.
He struck his arm out of the window net and flipped the bird at Riggs, a move that even Riggs later laughed off, saying, “I think he flipped me off all the way down the frontstretch coming to the checkered. But how can you be mad when you win the race, right? But it’s all good.” Hocevar was asked in the press conference about his gesture, and his response was timid, to say the least. “It was somewhat friendly… If anything, I just wanted to remind him… ‘Hey, I still won. ‘”
In light of this response, NASCAR insider Alexis Erickson offered some advice for the #77 driver. She told PRN Live, “Here’s my message to Carson. Just stand on your business, bud. Either you want to keep apologising and race the way your competition wants you race. Or get out, have a backbone. Stand on your business. If you want to give somebody the finger and say, ‘Hey, I still won the race’, then stand by it! Try to laugh it off. It just seems like Carson has this Dr Jekyll and ‘Mr Cares About What People Think’ kind of personality going on.”
Erickson breaks down Hocevar’s antics after the race as someone who wants to be the heel but isn’t embracing it. NASCAR always needs a hero and a villain for the fans to root for and to despise. For a long time, Kyle Busch fulfilled the role of NASCAR’s heel, and he reveled in it. Sure, he had his Rowdy fans, but most of the general NASCAR fandom hated him with a vengeance. Kyle Busch did not care a jot, and would happily egg them on and bathe in their hate, and that’s what Erickson wants from Hocevar.
Erickson continued, “I’m not saying that he’s right or wrong, or has to be the hero or the villain. I just want him to stand on his business. I want him to be more of Kyle Busch or Joey [Logano], or Denny [Hamlin]. You know where they stand and how they feel about things. Don’t kind of backtrack and say what you think people need to hear. So, that’s my column today, and I just think with Carson being 22, it’s going to be fascinating to watch his evolution over the years.”
Carson Hocevar: Stand Your Ground #NASCAR #Racing pic.twitter.com/KulFmi1Uyp
— PRN (@PRNlive) May 14, 2025
The current heel in the NASCAR Cup Series is Denny Hamlin, and he also basks in the hate. After all, if comments like ‘I beat your favorite driver’ and ’11 against the world’ are any indication, Hamlin has weaponised the hate. However, Carson Hocevar seems to cycle between being popular and being a villain, and Erickson wants him to choose a lane. The ironic part in all of this is that Kyle Busch, one of the most famous heels in the Cup Series’ history, does not approve of Hocevar’s antics at all!
Admittedly, Busch and Hocevar have a history. Kyle revealed in a conversation with Kevin Harvick earlier this year, “The biggest problem I have with him is when he was 13, 14 years old whatever it was, I was racing at one of his home tracks in Michigan with a super late model while I was a Cup guy,” Busch said. “… It was Kalamazoo. Lap 8, Lap 11 somewhere early in the race… He comes right up alongside of me, sideswipes me, puts me into the frontstretch fence, and goes on… Never nothing after the fact, never a sorry, ‘Hey, my bad.’ “
This only worsened after Hocevar’s antics at Atlanta, which prompted Busch to radio a colorful message for the #77 Spire Motorsports driver. After Hocevar slid him multiple times, Busch said, “Go tell that No. 77 [Carson Hocevar] he’s done that same f—– move ten times. I don’t care if I wreck the whole f—– field. I’m over him… I’m going to wreck his a–.”
Evidently, Hocevar has what it takes to be the villain. A fiery personality, a passion to rile up opposing drivers, and he does it all with a smile on his face. If he embraces the hatred he gets, we might see NASCAR’s next villain unfolding right in front of our eyes.
What do you think of Carson Hocevar’s antics? Let us know in the comments!
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