Carson Hocevar has come under fire after spinning out Harrison Burton at Nashville Superspeedway, and rightly so. The young Spire Motorsports driver had been getting away with reckless driving for too long and NASCAR finally decided to take severe action. Hocevar was docked 25 points with a hefty fine of $50,000 for the incident in the ‘music city’ that finally caught the attention of NASCAR’s inconsistency rulings.

However, Dale Earnhardt Jr has offered a different perspective of the situation, claiming that Carson Hocevar was not the only one at fault for the controversial incident on Lap 243.

There are two sides to a story

It all began on Lap 243 when Brad Keselowski spun into the wall, forcing a 10th caution of the race. The chaos further followed when Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet rear-ended Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Ford Mustang, causing the Wood Brothers Racing driver to spin on the backstretch. While Burton avoided colliding into the outside wall, preventing significant damage to his car- for Hocevar, it turns out, the damage was already done. Unlike the incident in the Truck Series, where Layne Riggs was forced to wait in the pits for two laps after forcing Stefan Parsons to spin on the track, Hocevar received no such penalty at that time. Yet, it is better late than before, as justice was served last Tuesday.

While NASCAR is hoping that this penalty will drive the message home for Carson Hocevar, Dale Earnhardt Jr believes that the fault wasn’t only his. Speaking on Dale Jr Download, the 49-year-old said, “Hocevar did not have to turn Harrison around, he’s wrong for doing that, he’s wrong for doing it under caution especially. Harrison slowed down really abruptly. Did y’all kind of notice that? It was like Harrison was slowing.

“I don’t know if Harrison was just like ‘Hey I’m slowing down because the cautions out’ but he kind of reduced his speed a lot quicker than the other cars around him at least. It was like he was mad as well before he gets spun out, it seemed just judging by some body language out of the driving of the cars. It was like something went on between them two guys and they were both annoyed with each other.”

Considering that the race was under caution after Brad Keselowski spun into the wall, this might be a case of NASCAR giving Harrison Burton the benefit of the doubt for slowing down before being rear-ended by Carson Hocevar. Moreover, Carson Hocevar certainly has a reputation that may have worked against him in this instance. It’s not the first time the Spire Motorsports rookie has been penalized for an on-track incident, having been forced to sit out two laps in Martinsville last year for trying to hook Taylor Gray in the Truck Series.

According to NASCAR, Hocevar had violated Sections 4.4B of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct, calling this a behavioral penalty. For some, the penalty came too late, as they preferred timely action to be taken during the race itself. And others were just glad that it came at last, at least. Given Hocevar’s history of on-track incidents, there were calls for the 21-year-old to be suspended as well, just like Chase Elliott was for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin at Coca-Cola 600 in 2023.

Why was Carson Hocevar not suspended?

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While the precedent had been set when Austin Hill spun Cole Custer at Charlotte Motor Speedway under caution, the two situations are not the same. Both received a 25-point deduction, but Hill was fined $25,000 for the incident. However, it’s fair to wonder why Hocevar didn’t receive a suspension, especially since he has a history of similar incidents throughout his career.

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022, Carson Hocevar turned Tate Fogleman in the Truck Series, and the incident didn’t look particularly unintentional. A similar situation occurred in Richmond when Hocevar sent Nick Leitz spinning into the wall just when he was about to get lapped.

But wait, there’s more. Hocevar right-hooked Colby Howard at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2022 and escaped the incident. The decision to not hold Carson Hocevar accountable was puzzling because Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace had been suspended for similar incidents. He also got into Championship contender Corey Heim at Phoenix Raceway and spun Ty Gibbs into the outside wall at Martinsville in 2023.

Add up all the incidents and it seems like Hocevar has escaped with nothing but a slap on the wrist for the incident against Harrison Burton at Nashville Superspeedway. If the Spire Motorsports rookie were to wreck someone intentionally under caution again, NASCAR may have no other choice but to suspend him, to ensure that the lesson is finally learned.

Do you think Carson Hocevar was not the only one at fault for the incident at Nashville Superspeedway? Let us know in the comments!