Is Carson Hocevar Clapping Back at NASCAR Criticism Justified?

In his third full-time NASCAR Truck season with Niece Motorsports, Carson Hocevar showed incredible promise by snatching his very first Truck Series triumph and following it up with three more wins and an appearance in the Championship 4. Despite all his achievements this year, does he have anything to prove? Hocevar said that he doesn’t.

The Daily Downforce wrote: “Carson Hocevar is now a full-time Cup Series driver. What does he have to prove?” To this, Hocevar replied, “nothing. atleast i don’t think so, proved to myself that i could compete with some of my hero’s and my team have more confidence in me then i did before getting more chances last year.”

“not sure what more to prove other then for public opinion, but that’s when you overextend. it’s just about execution to our potential as an organization and as a race team,” he added. Indeed, Hocevar has been struggling with maintaining a clean chit for himself when it comes to public opinion.

And that has happened due to the multiple times he has wrecked his fellow racers and gotten himself into on-track squabbles. Whether it is his fault is something for the viewers to decide. On that note, let’s take a deeper dive into the times he has been involved in these controversies.

Does Carson Hocevar have a point?

Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr certainly doesn’t think so. As Hocevar drove for the October Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, he got himself into an exchange with Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Ty Gibbs when he didn’t like how Ty Gibbs raced him.

Dale Junior commented from the NBC booth, “Ty Gibbs maybe moves him out of the way right here, Pretty simple. Martinsville racing. Now we’re going to go down into Turn 1. Hocevar is going to go into the back and watch this. I’ma hook you,” said Junior as Hocevar veered right and hit the left rear of the No. 54 machine as it spun out.

“And we know that Hocevar has a habit of doing that,” the two-time Xfinity Series champion. “I think he’s trying to work on it, but when you come to the Cup Series and do that, you’re gonna get some hard lessons from these guys. Because there’s not a lot of people going to stand up to you in the Truck Series or Xfinity Series, but this Cup Series is a little bit different.”

Hocevar’s demeanor remained unchanged in the 2023 Truck Series Grand finale at Phoenix Raceway. With just 30 laps remaining in the predominantly unruly race, the #42 speedster rammed into the #11 machine’s left rear and sent it for a spin.

Needless to say, Corey Heim’s winning chances faded away with that. Although Hocevar apologized for his actions and admitted that he was angry with himself for ruining Heim’s chances of winning the title, Joe Gibbs Racing icon Martin Truex Jr. said, “I think it’s an act. I think he’s just acting out to try and make people feel sorry for him.”