Carson Hocevar didn’t do himself any favors during the Truck Series finale last weekend. His and Corey Heim’s on-track incidents were not looked at in a good light by anyone in NASCAR and the entire blame seems to be falling on the 20-year-old. Hocevar will be in the Cup Series as a full-time driver from 2024. According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, Hocevar cannot afford to keep up that kind of rash driving which endangers others’ races.
Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar were both championship drivers in the Truck Series finale. The Niece Motorsports driver was in the lead of the championship before he was overtaken by the Tricon Garage star. As Hocevar was trying to get his position back, he turned into Heim and sent him spinning, effectively ruining his chance at the title. The 21-year-old got his payback later in the race when he completely wrecked the #42 truck with just four laps to go.
Dale Earnhardt Jr slams Cup Series-bound driver for brash driving
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The back-and-forth between the two drivers affected the other two title contenders, Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger. When Heim wrecked Hocevar, Enfinger looked set to take the victory, but the restart saw Rhodes get past his title rival and claim the crown. While Corey Heim was at fault for ruining Enfinger’s title chances, Dale Earnhardt Jr believes the entire blame lay with Carson Hocevar.
The Niece Motorsports man has been known to wreck others during races. Sometimes it’s intentional and sometimes he is just unlucky, but the pattern is consistent. Hocevar has signed a full-time Cup Series contract with Spire Motorsports starting in 2024, but Junior believes that the 20-year-old might ruin his opportunity by driving like this.
“It’s indefensible. It’s indefensible. He may feel sort of like, “Damn it, I screwed up again. Damn it, I really don’t, I got to quit doing this.” I’m sure that he feels like, “Man, I got to straighten this out. I got to stop doing this. But he doesn’t feel that way in the moment to stop doing it. He keeps doing it. And if he continues this type of stuff, ruin this incredible opportunity he has because he is incredibly talented,” the former Cup Series driver said on a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download podcast.
Friday night's truck race was a hot topic on social media this weekend. 😬
Watch @DaleJr's full reaction to the truck race over on our YouTube channel. ⬇️
📺 https://t.co/GTewcxQzKF pic.twitter.com/BmPc7ieFKq— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) November 7, 2023
Many blamed Corey Heim for retaliating against Hocevar and ruining Grant Enfinger’s title chance. As far as Dale Earnhardt Jr is concerned, he will remember Hocevar’s actions for a longer time than Heim’s. That may be a sentiment that a lot of current Cup Series drivers may echo as well.
“I, in a couple of weeks, will soon forget any involvement that Heim had in all of this. I will forget that Heim wrecked him with 4 to go. I will forget that…cost Enfinger the championship, I will forget all of that in about 2 weeks. What I will not have forgotten is what Carson has been doing,” Junior added.
The man that Carson Hocevar spun out of the title picture was not surprised at how things went in Phoenix. He might have already wrecked him on track, but that didn’t stop him from slamming the driver of the #42 after the race.
Watch This Story: Dale Earnhardt Jr: A Tale of Unseen Battles
Carson Hocevar’s latest victim sends stern warning to Cup Series field
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The Tricon Garage driver sent a warning to everyone in the Cup Series about what they might have to deal with every week with Carson Hocevar. Heim also revealed that it was how the #42 driver had driven him ever since they were kids.
“I passed him clean and then he hit me two or three times. And then finally he had enough fun just kind of hitting me and he wrecked me, so it is what it is. You know, every guy on Sunday (in the Cup Series) is gonna see that and understand that they’re gonna be racing against him like that,” Heim said as per NASCAR.
“I’m not too worried about it. I won’t race him anymore, so I don’t have to deal with it too much. But yeah, just, you know, kind of expected. He’s been racing me like that since he was five years old. I raced with him in quarter midgets. So it’s part of championship racing,” the 21-year-old added.
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In the Cup Series, Carson Hocevar already has a lot of people who are not a fan of driving style. The 20-year-old could be in big trouble if he doesn’t improve his race craft before then. How do you think Hocevar will fare in NASCAR’s top division?