Atlanta Motor Speedway got a taste of NASCAR’s rabble-rouser today. Carson Hocevar let his Cup Series rivals know very well last year what he can do to ride to success. Now the 2024 Cup Series Rookie is continuing his penchant for the wild in 2025. Throughout the 266-lap Ambetter Health 400 event, Hocevar got on the nerves of rivals like Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. However, he issued an apology only to Rick Hendrick – after he deprived the latter’s star of a win on the last lap.

Carson Hocevar bows his head selectively

Well, the contact with Ryan Blaney was glaringly evident. On lap 234 of the race, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford spun off of Turn 1. On a closer look, broadcasters found that the culprit behind the wild-smoking mess was none other than Carson Hocevar. Blaney proceeded to call him a ‘moron’ on radio. Earlier during the race, Kyle Busch launched an expletive-laden rant against the 22-year-old Michigan native’s wreck fest antics. However, Hocevar did not stop there. On the final lap, he put his No. 77 between Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota and Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevy and notched up his best Cup Series finish (P2), but he had denied Kyle Larson a shot at the win.

Then the Spire Motorsports driver realized he had done something excessive. Spire fosters a deep relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, one that is expected to grow deeper this season. So Carson Hocevar hung his head in shame for disadvantaging Rick Hendrick’s golden boy. He said post-race, “First off, apologies to Larson and HMS, Mr. H – they help us out a lot. And I didn’t realize that we weren’t racing back to the line. The last two nights were kind of that way and I hit the 20 to get him out of the way and fill the middle. You know, a little bit longer and maybe we would win the race.” 

Although the press asked him about the surging emotions against him elsewhere on the Cup grid, Carson Hocevar chose to be muted about those. He simply said, “I’ll just leave those to myself.” Yet Hocevar was spotted talking to Ryan Blaney on the pit road, although things did not seem to get heated. However, Ross Chastain – a Chevy driver who has hyped up Hocevar’s talents before – was not very happy. Chastain also approached Hocevar for a pit road conversation. However, Hocevar apologized only to Rick Hendrick on camera.

Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar also felt proud of his team’s progress. After his rookie run in 2024, the No. 77 team has kicked off 2025 with a bang.

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Hocevar continues his humble attitude

Again, the No. 77 driver knows his priorities in doling out gratitude. After apologizing to Rick Hendrick for mucking up his team’s run for the win, Carson Hocevar looked at his team. The No. 77 Spire Motorsports fold has been on fire ever since Hocevar joined at the start of 2024. They notched 1 top-five and 6 top-tens last year, carving a gorgeous rookie reputation.

What’s more? Hocevar clinched 100 points more than the nearest rookie driver, Zane Smith. He performed way better than former Spire veteran driver Corey LaJoie, paving the path to a glorious future. Although his Daytona run last weekend ended in a wreck-laden 33rd-place finish, Hocevar made up for it at Atlanta.

Carson Hocevar’s 2nd-place finish in just the second race of the season shows what a force he can be. Yet he tipped his hat to his team more, as he acknowledged its efforts. “Big thanks to Spire Motorsports, Chevrolet, everybody at Delaware Life. I normally ride at the back and run last. You know, tried to get a decent finish – for how bad we were at Daytona.”

Hocevar lightly admitted to his wrecking antics: “There’s some stuff I gotta learn and clean up a little bit. But I think we’ve put ourselves in the perfect opportunity to try and win a race. I’ve never had that opportunity really before, especially on a superspeedway.” This 2nd place finish marked Hocevar’s first top-10 at a superspeedway in the Cup Series as he broke new ground towards being an aggressive star on the grid.

Despite his contentment, Carson Hocevar has not evoked the brightest of spirits in his rival drivers. Do you think Hocevar’s early season antics will lead to backlash? Let us know in the comments.