MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It’s Carson Hocevar’s world and we’re all living in it, apparently.
At Darlington Raceway, Hocevar finished 11th and had a largely unremarkable day. Yet, he was one of the top newsmakers of not only the day but the week since then for an incident with NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski at the end of the first stage.
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Exiting turn four, Hocevar bumped into Keselowski and caused him to slide sideways. Hocevar tapped him again, causing him to spin and bringing out a stage-ending caution.
After racing Hocevar for 18th at the time of the spin, Keselowski never had the same speed as day turned to night and he finished 26th.
Afterward, Hocevar said Keselowski “just spun” and added he does things “for the clicks.” Keselowski was more serious, vowing some form of payback to Hocevar.
When asked about the incident at the NASCAR Foundation Gala later in the week, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell laughed and looked forward to what the drivers would say to each other heading to World Wide Technology Raceway Gateway.
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Remember the old saying, “There’s no such thing as bad press”? Hocevar, Spire and NASCAR are all on the same page, especially when the checks clear from this past week.
With Hocevar starting Sunday’s race in 34th, he promised to discount his T-shirts based on how many positions he gained in the race. He lived up to the promise and then some – tacking on an additional 6% because of the incident with Keselowski’s No. 6 car, which added up to a 29% discount and a reported $200,000 in quick sales.
Like them or not, Hocevar and Spire have gotten clever this season. When he had a run-in with Zane Smith, he told fans to bring a competitor’s T-shirt to his hauler to freely exchange for one of his T-shirts. Many fans reportedly bought T-shirts from Smith’s stand, likely giving him a boost in sales.
This week, Denny Hamlin criticized Spire Motorsports for “not having any adults in the building” and being “unserious”. Spire executive Jeff Dickerson, who Hocevar listens to closely, refuted Hamlin’s comments.
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It’s important to remember Hamlin has deep qualms with Spire, especially with his organization’s ongoing lawsuit against Chris Gabehart, who is accused of stealing sensitive information from Joe Gibbs Racing and taking it to Spire.
To say Spire is unserious is, itself, unserious. While Spire has its roots in being a money-making, marketing agency and Hocevar has professed himself to be the driver he would’ve been a fan of as a kid, they’ve improved their program enough to give Hocevar the horses to completely outrank Hendrick Motorsports in the season’s standings at one point.
Hocevar has even contended for wins against JGR’s Toyotas on multiple occasions, even before Gabehart left for Spire.
Hocevar and Spire are exactly what NASCAR wants from its teams to market the sport and create storylines that will get people talking. We’re all falling into it but it’s hard not to talk about as long as Hocevar is dong what he’s doing.
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Like Joey Logano in 2015 when he blazed his own path and upset veterans, Hocevar will have consequences to face – especially from Keselowski. Keselowski had his own warpath in 2014 that led to an unsuspecting Matt Kenseth body-slamming him WWE-style at Charlotte Motor Speedway and a bloodied Jeff Gordon turning the Texas Motor Speedway pit road into a wrestling ring.
This year, Hocevar has a lot to lose as a Chase driver while Keselowski has nothing to lose and no boss to answer to besides himself.
Hocevar has plenty of talent to be a mainstay for years to come. He’s making a splash now but it could come with a price to pay that even T-shirt sales can’t cover.
Ultimately, money doesn’t talk, it swears – and it drives NASCAR more than anything powering the cars that make the sport what it is. Hocevar has found a way to swear by himself even when his performance can’t.
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