Carson Hocevar made new enemies in the NASCAR Cup Series following the race at Iowa Speedway last Sunday. He wrecked Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith by accident and was confronted with some harsh words by Smith’s crew chief, Ryan Bergenty, on pit road. Choosing not to back down, Hocevar later went on social media and posted an instigating message.
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NASCAR fans loved the fact that he was showing personality and were full of praise for him on multiple platforms. But Denny Hamlin believes that this attitude might not be in his best interests in the long term.
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran discussed Hocevar’s case at length on the recent episode of Actions Detrimental. The youngster would do well to take some lessons from it.
Hamlin said, “I can tell you without a doubt, a hundred percent, he did not purposely hit Zane Smith. It was an accident. But I’m telling you that your social media post is good for clicks, bad for results. And I think he’s after the clicks right now. That’s my opinion. I could be wrong.” He believes that the consequence of such actions will come at the most unfortunate time.
He continued, “One day, you’re going to be in contention for a win, and someone is going to clean you out, and they’re going to say, ‘I took a number.’ I just feel like you’re going to pay. You’re going to pay at the most inopportune time when it was your day.” What this means is that Hamlin thinks Hocevar ought to watch his back.
Even if fellow drivers don’t go about wrecking him from a winning position, they will do everything they can to stop him from winning. And that’s not something that a young driver like him or any team owner needs. Hamlin used the examples of drivers like Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski to make his case that aggressive drivers usually get wiser with age and regret their actions.
Logano, in particular, is remembered in such conversations for his battle with Matt Kenseth in 2015. Years later, he publicly acknowledged that he wouldn’t have raced the way he did if he’d known better.
There’s no telling that Hocevar wouldn’t be in a similar spot a decade from now. But then, it’s also worth remembering that such acts of controversy are what made Logano who he is today.
