Rick Hendrick has long known how to rein in young guns when deliberate wrecks and hard pushes cross the line. In 2023, after Ross Chastain repeatedly tangled with Kyle Larson, the HMS owner publicly warned that if Chastain hit any Hendrick driver again, there would be payback, and manufacturer ties to Chevrolet would not shield him. Now, Carson Hocevar finds himself in a position similar to Chastain back then, though Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes the Spire Motorsports rookie will likely set boundaries when it comes to Hendrick.<\/p>\n
With 318 Cup Series victories, Hendrick Motorsports stands as the winningest team in NASCAR\u2019s top tier, and Mr. Hendrick\u2019s influence runs deep. Crossing him or his drivers rarely ends well for a newcomer, a point Dale Jr. stressed on his podcast.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cI am entertained by Hocevar until it becomes my problem\u2026 That goes back to the same thing. I think it\u2019s all fine until he does something that irks a Hendrick or somebody that\u2019s directly above his chain of command.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior continued<\/a>, \u201cI think you know if he goes out there and impeded the lap for Larson and the big man gets upset, because the big man has some influence over Spire. The big man has influence over most things Chevrolet.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so when you start messing with what his program\u2019s doing or what he\u2019s trying to accomplish, that\u2019s when the vice gets a little tight and Carson will feel that. But until that happens\u2026 he\u2019s not going to make the adjustments \u2019cause he doesn\u2019t feel like he needs to. Not going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a scenario that mirrors Chastain\u2019s shift in tone. One warning from Hendrick at a press conference drained much of Chastain\u2019s bravado<\/a>, making him far more cautious about wrecking not only HMS drivers but anyone on the grid.<\/p>\n