To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the ever-divisive Carson Hocevar ended the NASCAR Cup Series‘ Cook Out Southern 500 on Sunday on the bad side of his rivals – this time as a result of a bizarre pit road incident as well as an on-track clash.
Spire Motorsports’ Hocevar, whose undeniable talent is regularly overshadowed by his controversial on-track antics, seemingly found grip hard to come by at Darlington, leaving him spinning out on lap 152 to bring out the caution flag. The 22-year-old made his way to pit road for a fresh set of Goodyears; however, as he pulled into his stall, he collided with Christopher Bell.
Pulling out of the stall adjacent, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell spun Hocevar yet again, leaving the No. 77 Chevrolet facing in the wrong direction as the No. 20 Toyota continued onward toward the track, although his car was left worse for wear.
In what was the first Playoff race of the season, championship hopeful Bell ended up coming home down in 29th, while Hocevar crossed the line in ninth in what he had described mid-race as the “worst-driving race car I have ever driven,” via On3.
Following the race, a frustrated Bell explained that while he didn’t place the blame directly on Hocevar, the incident still “ruined” his race. “The No. 77 just didn’t yield. He didn’t give way,” Bell told reporters, via Frontstretch. “I would say that it’s our responsibility not to run into him if he’s racing for position.
“But the fact that he was the one who brought the yellow out. The only reason that we had contact was because he was so far behind the field, catching up. That’s very frustrating.
“Honestly, I don’t really give blame to Carson. I think it’s more on his team to not let him know the circumstances that he’s pitted on an island with all the Playoff cars. He just spun, brought out the yellow. He’s not going to gain a spot on pit road and he didn’t give way and ruined my night. It’s a bummer.”
As for Hocevar, he later said the incident came about as his team had been focused on watching the No. 12 of Ryan Blaney, noting it was simply an example of “bad timing” and that it “sucks for everybody involved. I think it’s just hard to watch everything. Sometimes you’ve got to pick a car to watch.”
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But Hocevar’s clash with Bell wasn’t his only controversial moment of the race, as earlier he and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott were involved in some pushing and shoving on track, nearly sending the No. 77 into a spin, prompting the youngster to lash out at the veteran over his radio. “F— him. I don’t care who he drives for,” Hocevar said. Elliott, who is chasing his second career Cup Series title, finished the race in 17th.
This comes after Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently sent Hocevar some stern warnings via his podcast that repeatedly getting himself on the wrong side of drivers, and in so doing, damaging his own reputation, could end up backfiring down the line. The 50-year-old also specifically mentioned how clashing with anyone on Rick Hendrick’s team could prove particularly problematic, given that they supply Spire’s engines.
“We said this months and months ago – everything’s fine until he runs into one of Rick’s cars or something like that and he has to go into the office and talk to Rick Hendrick,” he said.
“It might not be Rick, but it’ll be a person like Rick that when he has to go in and have that conversation, that will have an effect. That might not fix it all, but that will have an effect on the decision-making behind the wheel. I’m entertained by Hocevar until it becomes my problem. I think it’s all fine until he does something that irks Hendrick. Or somebody that’s directly above his chain of command.”