NASCAR has a villain in Carson Hocevar … and is loving it

Hocevar finished 11th on Sunday and is 12th in the Chase standings, qualifying as one of the top 16 drivers in this year’s standings. The 6-foot-4 Michigan native’s aggressive tactics and seeming disregard for the sport’s unwritten rules of etiquette and respect have turned opposing drivers into rivals and enemies, from viral incidents with Corey Heim to criticism from superstars past and present like Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray. Hocevar’s nickname — “The Hurricane” — is fitting, as he blusters through each race week with brute, uncontrolled force, leaving major damage in his wake.

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On the red carpet Tuesday in New York for the NASCAR Foundation’s 20th anniversary honors gala, drivers in attendance were less than charitable when asked for their thoughts on Hocevar.

“It’s an often asked question,” Zane Smith, whose crash with Hocevar at Chicagoland in July led to an expletive-laden rant calling him a coward, told Yahoo Sports. “I’m not a fan.”  

Hocevar decided to have some fun with the altercation, going on social media and offering a t-shirt trade-in for the first 77 fans at the following week’s race to swap out other drivers’ merch for his, quickly reaching the quota. Seven of the shirts traded in were reportedly Smith’s.

Joey Logano, the three-time Cup champion who’s four spots ahead of Hocevar in the Chase standings, said he doesn’t have much to say about him.

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“He’s obviously created a lot of drama out there,” Logano told Yahoo Sports. “In some ways, that’s good. In other ways, you want solid role models out there for your kids to watch.”

Americans and sports fans love drama, and Hocevar causes a lot of it on a weekly basis. While his fellow drivers dislike him, racing fans have responded much more positively to his reckless, defiant style. As of last month, Hocevar was the top driver in retail sales on the NASCAR Shop website and is ranked in the top five in trackside sales. 

This for a driver who’s won exactly one Cup race in three full-time seasons in NASCAR’s top series. 

In the 24 hours after his lone victory at Talladega earlier this year, there were more purchases of Hocevar’s Lionel diecast model car than any other driver after a win since Lionel started partnering with NASCAR in 2010. Hocevar’s e-commerce site reportedly posted nearly $500,000 in merchandise sales in the month following his win. There are unconfirmed reports that Hocevar’s e-commerce site sold nearly $200,000 worth of merch in the 24 hours following his incident with Keselowski on Sunday.

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But while drivers are souring on Hocevar’s antics, NASCAR seems to be embracing The Hurricane. The headline of an Aug. 27 press release promoting that weekend’s race at Daytona asked, “Does Everyone Hate Carson Hocevar?” The subhead read, “The Chase has 16 drivers. Carson Hocevar might have 15 enemies.” While the release offered criticism from fellow drivers Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney, it also pointed out Hocevar’s crossover appeal, from his appearance at this year’s Met Gala to his inclusion in the Time100 list of the most influential people in sports.        

“Carson Hocevar could very well be the next face of NASCAR,” Time wrote, with “a combination of talent and confidence that attracts a fervent following.”   

From January through May, per the press release, Hocevar saw the largest increase in cross-platform social media followers in the sport, adding nearly 200,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram and X, a 70.6% increase. He boasts more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and more than 200,000 each on Facebook and TikTok, with strong followings on X and Twitch as well.

As NASCAR promotes an edgy, high-octane, paint-trading, dented-fender style of racing with its inevitable crashes, Hocevar seems to embody, in a way, what the sport is trying to sell. 

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“Carson should keep being Carson,” Ross Chastain, Hocevar’s longtime friend and mentor of sorts who also owns a stake in the Motorsports Management International group that reps Hocevar, told Yahoo Sports. “The nickname is appropriate. He’s leaning into it. What you see is the Carson that I’ve known from the truck series. But we’re also watching him grow up right before our eyes, and that’s putting eyeballs on us, because you’re watching the chaos.”

In the final laps of the truck series championship race in 2023, Hocevar wiped out himself and Heim in a crash that cost both of them a shot at the title. He’s seemed to always embody this villainy, and has enough talent right now to at least make the Chase playoffs. But is his hard-charging style holding back Hocevar’s true potential on the track?

It’s clear that Hocevar has superstar potential off the track, with short- and long-term sponsors, including Spectrum, Ikea, Chili’s, Monster Energy, Delaware Life and Gainbridge. However, the last two sponsors are either owned by or affiliated with Spire Motorsports’ majority owner Mark Walter, who’s the subject of an ogoing investigation by the SEC and DOJ for potential loan fraud. If Spire is impacted by the investigation, has Hovecar burned too many bridges to the point where his future in the Cup series would be in jeopardy?

“He definitely rubs drivers the wrong way,” Conor Zilisch told Yahoo Sports, “which will one day turn back on him.”

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Jesse Love, who swapped paint with Hocevar at Circuit of the Americas in March, believes the whole act he puts on will eventually get old with the drivers and his fan base.

“When that happens, it’ll probably just naturally die out,” Love told Yahoo Sports. “When the class clown act gets old with the teachers and the students, that stuff usually naturally dies out. But in the meantime, he’s making a hell of a lot of money and growing his fan base, so more power to him.”

Is Carson Hocevar just a fad or a phase, or does he represent NASCAR’s brash, unapologetic future? Is his style overshadowing his talent? Would Hocevar be higher in the season standings if he toned down the aggressiveness from more of a hurricane to a tropical storm? 

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As Hocevar cashes in on and off the track as one of the sport’s great villains and social media stars, whatever he’s doing seems to be working, even if he makes enemies out of every single one of his opponents along the way.