Carson Hocevar put on a stellar performance at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, finishing the Cup Series race in second place. He lost out only to 2023 champion Ryan Blaney and catapulted himself to 17th in the points table. But his stellar performance isn’t what he’s under the spotlight for this week.
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The youngster wrecked Hyak Motorsports driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Stage 2 without any reason or need. It was a blatant display of the aggressive character that he is fast becoming famous for. While a few insiders like Kyle Petty have extended support in the aftermath, citing the need for such drivers, others like Denny Hamlin aren’t as fond of the approach.
Hamlin said on Actions Detrimental that Stenhouse Jr., being an aggressive driver in his own right, will get back at Hocevar sooner or later. He stated, “You can take this to the book. Ricky Stenhouse will absolutely wreck Carson Hocevar sometime in the near future. That’s just a fact. I put this week’s salary on it. I am not kidding.
“He ain’t going to punch him in the face. But he will absolutely wreck him. Because Ricky’s that kind of guy. He’s going to feed into what people say. ‘Are you going to get him?’ If you’re Carson, don’t be surprised. It’s coming.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran continued to insist that Hocevar defending himself to the press afterwards was absurd and that it would instigate Stenhouse further.
Why Hamlin is not fond of Hocevar’s aggressiveness
The racing style that Hocevar wants to follow so badly today is what the likes of Dale Earnhardt created decades ago and won championships with. But those times are long gone. The landscape has changed massively today, and such attempts at intimidation are only met with backlash from competitors. This is why Hamlin doesn’t like what Hocevar is doing.
He mentioned how Ross Chastain was doing the same until he learnt his lesson from multiple drivers. Hamlin himself had to get back at Chastain for lines that the Trackhouse Racing driver crossed a few years ago. He said, “You may think it’s cool to be the tough guy.
“You just want to put on this persona of someone who was one of the most popular drivers in our sport. Because he was an intimidator. You’re not that guy. This is a different type of racing nowadays. It’s not the best strategy.”
Will Hocevar get the same treatment, or will he prove to be a harder nut to crack? The answer will reveal itself in the races to come.
