Carson Hocevar didn’t come to make mates at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 22-year-old Spire Motorsports wheelman shoved and bumped his No. 77 Chevy to a runner-up spot in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400, leaving feathers ruffled and tongues wagging. Post-race, he traded words with Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney—handshakes included—after a 266-lap scrap that saw him climb from 26th to second. Aggression paid off, but not without a cost.
“We’re here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other and play on the playground together,” Hocevar said after climbing out. “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 …” Second-year Cup driver or not, he’s not here to hug it out—though he’s got some polishing to do.
The Michigan kid started flexing early—ninth in Stage 1, seventh in Stage 2, stage points in the bag. But his bumper-happy style drew heat. Kyle Busch and Blaney lit up their radios, fuming over the No. 77’s moves. Blaney’s beef peaked on Lap 234—Hocevar’s nudge spun the No. 12 into a slide. “I wasn’t slowing,” Blaney said. “He was drafting to me, and he didn’t lift and just gave me a shot when I’m turning into [Turn] 1, and it spun me out. I was just happy I didn’t hook a right back into everybody and was able to stay on the apron.” Fourth place stung less than the shove.
Winner Christopher Bell saw it coming. “He’s been around enough now that you know he’s going to, you know, be the aggressor,” Bell said in his presser. “If there’s a hole, he’s going to take it. If there’s not a hole, he’s going to make one, and he ultimately gave me the shove to pass or break through to lead the side-draft tandem with myself and Kyle down the back straightaway, and then I didn’t realize Kyle had opened up the bottom like he did, getting into (Turn) 3 and allowed Carson to sneak middle of three-wide.” Hocevar’s push helped Bell snag the win—ironic twist for the chaos kid.
Chastain, eighth in his No. 1 Trackhouse ride, tussled with Hocevar late. Their chat? “Sometimes you agree and disagree at things,” Hocevar said of his mentor. “Ultimately, I felt like I made the decision that was to win the race, and I think we’ll be able to continue to talk about it because, obviously, we have each other’s phone numbers.” He dodged details, joking it was about Chili’s Triple Dipper. Handshake sealed it—no blood drawn.
Hocevar’s second beats his Watkins Glen third last September—his Cup best yet. Superspeedways like Atlanta have been his kryptonite—30th at Daytona last week proved it. “I called Jeff Dickerson (Spire Motorsports co-owner) right after Monday, and I was like, man, well, I told my team I was not riding at all after the 500 … I said I wasn’t riding,” he said. “And I called Jeff, and I said, ‘Hey, man, like, what do you think I do?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, you just ride. You do what you normally do.’ And I said, I think I’m just gonna go race, and I’m just gonna go see what happens.” Spire backed him—he raced, not rode.
“Again, there’s things I would clean up,” Hocevar said. “But you’re not gonna make the right decisions every time, especially with how fast we’re going and how many runs is happening, and I can only apologize and say I’m gonna get better.” Blaney got a sorry; Busch, seventh, might still be stewing. Hocevar’s 15th in points—next stop, COTA, March 2. Clean it up or keep swinging? He’s learning on the fly.
