Carson Hocevar is one of the hottest topics to emerge from Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville. The 22-year-old Spire Motorsports driver put his aggressive racing style on full display to wreck Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Stage 2 without any reason or need. This has divided the NASCAR community, with some praising his nature and others criticising it.
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As extreme as the reactions may be, two names that come up in every discussion of this issue are Ross Chastain and Rick Hendrick. The story behind this dates back to 2023. Chastain used to be a driver not much different from who Hocevar is now. He wrecked his competitors thoughtlessly without any concern about payback. But this came to an end after a particular phone call from Rick Hendrick.
The Trackhouse Racing driver was on a streak of wrecking Kyle Larson continually that season. He hurt the No. 5 driver’s chances of victory on multiple tracks without any solid reason. This led to Mr. Hendrick being deeply offended. He made a phone call to Chastain and warned him of payback if he did not change his questionable racing approach and stop making enemies out of thin air.
The call proved to be a pivotal point in Chastain’s career. He has since toned down his aggressive style significantly. Former driver Kenny Wallace spoke about this recently on a video posted on his X handle. He said, “They’re [promoters] like…, ‘I wish they hadn’t calmed Ross Chastain down. He was good for ratings. When Ross Chastain was wrecking everybody, we liked that.’ The promoters liked that.”
He believes that the promotion will not want Hocevar to undergo the same treatment as Chastain for this very reason. Rivalries and feuds are a great way to turn attention to the sport. And by now, it has become clearer than water that NASCAR would do anything to bring up TV ratings and viewership. But what do fans think about this entire ordeal? Many are sure that Hocevar will be getting a phone call like Chastain did.
One fan stressed, “So @CarsonHocevar says he isn’t gonna change his ways. Good luck with that. You’ll eventually get the same talk Ross Chastain got from Mr H. Maybe not from Mr H himself, but somebody will.”
So @CarsonHocevar says he isn’t gonna change his ways. Good luck with that. You’ll eventually get the same talk Ross Chastain got from Mr H. Maybe not from Mr H himself but somebody will.
— J ROZAY (@JROZAY1042652) June 2, 2025
A second fan wrote on X, “I think Ricky gets a call from Chad Knaus… and we don’t see anything come of it. Chastain got that Mr H call once… took him forever to recover.”
Another predicted, “I’m a fan of Carson Hocevar. Just like I’m a fan of Ross Chastain. I know the two of them are friends. They raced together in the Truck series. Maybe Ross rubbed off on Carson a little. But Hocevar will calm down. Just like Ross did.”
The ball could go either way from here. Time will tell whether Hocevar adapts like Chastain — or keeps charging ahead on his own terms.
