There is not much to separate Cup Series drivers based on their image in front of the media. They all walk in a straight line, one drawn for them by their bosses and sponsors, not willing to risk their pay-check for a tad bit of fun or unruliness. But, once in a while, there comes a driver(s) who simply refuses to fit inside this box. Carson Hocevar, for instance.
Advertisement
The Spire Motorsports driver won the Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas City last weekend. As he did so, after a battle with Layne Riggs, his middle finger was out of his window, flipping the general crowd off.
He said in the post-race interview that he just wanted to make things more entertaining for fans. This sequence caught the eye of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The popular icon said in a discussion with his co-hosts for Dale Jr. Download that drivers with such characters are important for NASCAR.
He explained, “Having a wild card out there, or two or three or four or five, who you’re not sure what kind of f****** decision they’re going to make down in the next corner is kind of good.”
“You’ve got to have the good guy, the villain, and the f*** up. You have gotta have the guy who can’t get it right. You gotta have the guy who is stupid fast but a terrible decision maker. You need to have all these different people with all these different variables and throw them all in the bucket. Put them in the cage! See what happens.”
Hocevar has been unsettling many of his fellow drivers by shaking up what’s considered ethical on the track. But why would he be concerned as long as he isn’t breaking the rule book? As Junior says, NASCAR wouldn’t be half the sport it is without characters like Hocevar and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.
Fans loved the view that Junior had of this matter. “Good take on it. I agree,” one wrote on X. “Jr. is not wrong,” said another. One more added, “I dig the edginess 2. The wearing it and owning it ‘tude. Confident. Brazen. No hiding it. Out there. Damn I’m good… that style.”
I dig the edginess 2. The wearing it and owning it ‘tude. Confident. Brazen. No hiding it. Out there. Damn I’m good… that style.
— Vic P (@PackardVic) May 14, 2025
Chastain used to be a hundred times more aggressive than Hocevar is today. But it all changed in 2023 after Rick Hendrick gave him a call and advised (or threatened) him to stop wrecking his cars. He became a drastically silent driver post that phone call and remains so to this day. One fan brought this up in the comments.
They wrote, “Mr. Hendrick should have never made that call to Chastain! Stay in your lane, Sir! Fans love the ‘bad boys”! They shake things up, and that is exactly what NASCAR needs – back to old school!”
Hocevar did not straight-up own the fact that he flipped the bird in Kansas. But Junior was understanding of his reluctance. Admitting the act openly and proudly might cause the promotion to take action against him. That’s a price too high.
Junior added, “I think that drivers have kind of been programmed to never own up to doing anything wrong or nefarious over the last several years.”
It is not just Junior who has seen the positive in the aggression displayed by Hocevar. From Kyle Petty to Kevin Harvick, many believe that such an attitude is necessary to push drivers to a higher level.
It is those on the track, with whom Hocevar competes every week, that have a problem. At the end of the day, the youngster is a risk to their expensive vehicles.
