Carson Hocevar’s Rowdy Reputation Finally Catches Up to Him as NASCAR Refuses to Let Go of His Career-Long Shenanigans

NASCAR finally listened to Denny Hamlin and, in fact, did more than he asked for. When the #11 urged the officials to ‘do something’ about Hocevar’s on-track bumping on his podcast, he really shed light on how ‘actions can be detrimental’. And NASCAR just brought his warning to life by delivering a heavy blow to Carson Hocevar.

The young Spire Motorsports driver, labeled a “repeat offender” by Hamlin, had been getting away with reckless behavior for too many races now. However, his intentional spin of Harrison Burton at the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway proved to be the final straw. While this isn’t Hocevar’s first penalty for intentional contact, NASCAR hopes that the severe consequences will finally drive the message home.

NASCAR dug deep into Carson Hocevar’s pockets, both on and off the track

Few could have predicted what was going to happen when Brad Keselowski spun into the wall on Lap 243, bringing in the 10th caution of the race. Carson Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro bumped into Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Ford Mustang’s rear, forcing the Wood Brothers Racing driver to spin on the backstretch. The maneuver forced multiple drivers, such as Todd Gilliland and Austin Cindric, to take evasive measures to avoid a larger incident, while John-Hunter Nemechek narrowly avoided being caught in the crossfire as well.

Tired of such antics, coupled with a similar history of questionable behaviors, Denny Hamlin brought both NASCAR and Hocevar under his radar, as he said, “I’m gonna call on NASCAR here. They needed to do something to Carson. They don’t need to suspend him or anything like that. But they need to dig into his pocket a little because I think that you have to”. 

And that’s exactly what the penalty did, hitting right where it hurts the most. NASCAR dropped the hammer on Tuesday, announcing a hefty penalty for Carson Hocevar.

Eric Estepp broke down the entire situation and its consequences for Carson Hocevar on his YouTube channel. He explained the subsequent penalty, drawing parallels with William Byron’s incident a few years ago. Estepp said, “Last night, NASCAR handed Hocevar a 25-point penalty, a $50,000 fine for intentionally spinning Harrison Burton under caution during Sunday’s race at Nashville. Did I call it?.”

Eric Estepp further validated the decision, speaking about the infamous reputation Carson Hocevar has built, right from his Truck Series days. He said, “Carson Hocevar has a reputation. An earned reputation. Lots of shenanigans in the Truck Series. Right-rearing folks at IRP, Martinsville. Intentionally spinning out to bring out a caution. The problem is for a couple of years, Carson Hocevar got away with a lot. NASCAR never really stepped in, they sort of looked the other way. Carson Hocevar has flown up the ranks from Truck to Cup. He’s needed to learn for a while now that you can face repercussions.”

Adding on to Hamlin’s allegations, Carson Hocevar indeed has a history of being at the center of controversial incidents. Last year, he made contact with Corey Heim, causing a spin. However, it was Heim who received a penalty for simply retaliating later, when the cause went unnoticed. Yet Hocevar was penalized for intentionally spinning Taylor Gray at Martinsville, setting a precedent for future incidents, like one involving Layne Riggs. Additionally, Hocevar caused Ty Gibbs to spin in the same race, despite Gibbs being two laps ahead.

According to Estepp, this is a fair penalty as its repercussions will also be fairly huge for the driver, “It’s not like Carson Hocevar is a 10-year vet with longtime Fortune 500 corporate sponsors backing him. No, he’s a 21-year-old rookie with a bunch of brand-new sponsors this season.”

Hocevar’s penalty takes him from 22nd place in the standings to 24th, 181 points below the playoff cut line with just seven races remaining in the regular season. According to NASCAR, the 21-year-old violated Section 4.4B of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct, calling it a behavioral penalty. Soon after the news was announced, fans began taking to X to share their opinions, albeit drawing comparisons with past incidents.

Hocevar’s “only 50k” penalty “doesn’t seem right” to fans

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As soon as NASCAR revealed that Carson Hocevar had been penalized, NASCAR netizens took to social media to share their opinion. Taking into account the incident at Martinsville, Phoenix Raceway, as well as the one in Nashville, a fan wrote, “This is a repeat offense, though. I think he should have been parked, imo. I think the kid has a ton of talent and personality, but he needs some kind of sports therapy or something. You can’t do that at the highest level of racing, in any series.”

Considering that Layne Riggs was held for two laps at the pit road in the Truck Series, a fan wanted Carson Hocevar to get a similar penalty as the one he received in Martinsville last year after the incident with Taylor Gray. Writing on X, the fan said, “And the penalty is a fair one. In fact, he should have been penalized a couple of laps at the time, though given how the race eventually played out (there were 6 cautions after that incident), it probably wouldn’t have mattered very much, in terms of his finishing position.”

Remembering the All-Star race incident, in which Ricky Stenhouse Jr punched Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a fan expressed his shock that Hocevar was let off with a lighter fine, especially when it was a repeat incident. The user wrote, “Mind blowing his is only 50k, and Ricky Stenhouse was 75k. Doesn’t seem right to me. Especially when he has a history of these actions.”

“That’s it?? Wasn’t Chase suspended a race?” Another fan was left unsatisfied, recalling how Chase Elliott was suspended for a race after he was found guilty of intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin’s car on Lap 186 at the Coca-Cola 600 last year.

While the incident between Elliott and Hamlin occurred in green flag conditions, Hocevar spun Burton during a caution, which warranted a more severe penalty, according to a fan. The fan wrote, “Gotta get serious about intentional contact under caution flag conditions. It’s unacceptable period.”

What are your thoughts about Carson Hocevar’s penalty? Let us know in the comments!