Hocevar brushes off 'moron,' other comments after 2nd-place finish in Atlanta
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It appears Carson Hocevar may be leaning into the villain role this season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Hocevar left multiple other drivers unhappy with his antics en route to a second-place finish at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta on Sunday, but said post-race his focus is firmly on results.
“We’re here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other and play on the playground together,” Hocevar said. “So obviously, there’s learning lessons. You don’t want to piss anybody off or frustrate anybody, and there’s things I would clean up for sure. But it’s just going to come with learning.
“…Again, I’m normally 40th, waiting for them to crash and hoping they crash, and I finish in the teens. So, to be up front and get stage points in both stages and have a shot to win is something to hold my [head] high... And I’ve always said I’m a really bad superspeedway racer, so this at least gives me a little bit more confidence.”
Hocevar infuriated veteran driver Kyle Busch, who sounded off on the 22-year-old over his radio on lap 61.
"I'm going to wreck his ass," Busch said during his tirade.
Hocevar told reporters after the he didn't remember what he had done to draw Busch's ire.
"That was a long time ago, I'm sorry, I don't know," he said.
Early-season points leader Ryan Blaney was spun out by Hocevar on lap 234, calling him "a moron" on his radio. Blaney recovered to finish fourth and spoke to Hocevar about the incident post-race.
"I just said, 'Hey, you've got to calm down.' You know, I mean, I told him a couple of the moves he made earlier in the race were really, really sketchy," Blaney said. "Obviously, me getting spun, he should know better than to hit me in that spot. Like, he can't just run into my bumper as I'm turning into the corner, I'm going to wreck.
"So, I just told him, 'You've got to calm down. You have a lot of talent, but you've got to be a little easier. In certain moments, be a little smarter.'"
The second-place finish on Sunday vaulted Hocevar to 15th in the driver's standings this year after finishing 30th at the Daytona 500 in a DNF.