Playoff drivers fought to avoid elimination in Martinsville while non-playoff drivers played Spin-the-Gibbs behind them. Team owner Joe Gibbs fielded two championship contenders 17 points below the cut line and one rookie grandson attempting a Top 5 finish. Then he witnessed all of their races crumble in front of him. 

After the trophy slipped away from Denny Hamlin one more time, his teammate Ty Gibbs’ misfortune only served to enhance Hamlin’s ire. 

Denny Hamlin’s teammate Ty Gibbs’s Martinsville collision was intentional

Carson Hocevar is riding a career-high wave. In a single year, the 20-year-old qualified for the Championship 4 race in the Truck Series and earned a full-time Cup Series place with Spire Motorsports. Hocevar has also been appreciated in his select Cup starts this season with Legacy Motor Club. The #42 Chevrolet driver had his 8th Cup start in the Round of 8 race in Martinsville last weekend. This time, however, his performance drew criticism from veteran racers like Dale Earnhardt Jr and Denny Hamlin. 

The young racer bumped into Hamlin’s teammate and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs during the race. The impact from Hocevar spun the #54 driver and severely derailed his race. When Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass caught up with the #42 driver, Hocevar responded that he simply gave back what he received from Ty Gibbs. Hocevar said, “There’s always more to the story, right? I’ve known Ty for a while. We’ve raced good, we’ve raced bad together. I was going to let him go.” But then circumstances changed.

Hocevar continued, “I was a little bit frustrated for getting hit and I didn’t want to let him go at that point and he kept hitting me. So I was just trying to stick up for myself. I wasn’t mad under the helmet. I’ve been mad before and done dumb things…If it’s a veteran, I’m sure as h*ll not going to do that. I’m gonna pay my dues and play over and probably take it and understand. But Ty and I, he’s going to have job security for a while, hopefully I’m there and we are racing up front together.”

Hocevar clarified, “Did I mean to spin him out? No. Did I mean to hit him? Yeah.” But he did feel bad for taking things too far. Hocevar assured, “I’m gonna apologize to him and hopefully we’ll talk it out. I’m sure we’ll be just fine.”

Watch this story: Double Trouble for Ty Gibbs as Carson Hocevar Follows in Joey Logano’s Footsteps

In a sport where crashes and collisions are a routine occurrence, why did the Hocevar-Gibbs incident rile Hamlin up?

Denny Hamlin spells out Cup lesson 101 for Carson Hocevar

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When Carson Hocevar hit Ty Gibbs on Lap 303 of the race, Gibbs had already been spun by Joey Logano while racing in the Top 3. For the rookie Cup driver, a Top 3 finish at the short-track oval would have been a phenomenal achievement. But another bump from the #42 driver resulted in an 18th-place finish for the younger Gibbs. Dale Earnhardt Jr promptly condemned his actions during the race’s broadcast. 

Following that, Denny Hamlin did not mince his words in his Actions Detrimental podcast. The reason for their censure was Carson Hocevar being two laps down while affecting Ty Gibbs’ run on the lead lap. Frustrated with his juvenile antics, Hamlin declared, “He’s driving like an idiot!” As far as Hocevar’s allegations went, Hamlin dismissed them outright. He said, 

“I didn’t see Ty doing anything to him, we didn’t see it on TV, we don’t know, there might’ve been something, Ty might’ve knocked him up the racetrack because he’s on the fu**ing lead lap, you’re 2 laps down, get out of the way!”

It was evident with the tirade that Denny Hamlin wanted the future Cup driver to brush up on racetrack etiquette before joining the premier series next year.

Read More: “Nothing out of the Blue”- Denny Hamlin Refuses To Out Toyota’s Homestead Failure Amid Joe Gibbs’ Playoff Dilemma