Carson Hocevar is having fun but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care.
At the same time, when someone like Brad Keselowski gets mad at him for what happened between them early in the Southern 500, Hocevar doesn’t feel particularly compelled to offer empty apologies — especially for what he views as a racing deal.
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“I mean, it’s kind of shit happens sometimes when we’re racing hard,” Hocevar said on Wednesday during a NASCAR media availability. “I think Brad knows how aggressive he was being, racing is super hard, trying to keep me behind him.
“I was racing really hard, trying to be aggressive and just hurt his momentum a lot, and we just got to racing really hard. I feel like you put yourself in that spot where it’s going to open up after 10 or 15 laps — not that I ran out of patience because that sounds like I was trying to turn him — but racing someone really tight within an inch of each other for 10-to-15 laps, it adds to the intensity.”
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Hocevar says hard racing lends itself to contact — which is ultimately what happened.
But it’s how he responds to these moments that seem to especially draw the ire of those within the garage. There is rarely any remorse, and after the race on Sunday, Hocevar added a six percent discount to his merchandise to the 23 percent discount promotion that he established earlier in the weekend.
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The ‘six’ was a reference to Keselowski’s car number. This makes Hocevar come across as dismissive or irreverent towards a veteran that had just threatened him. Keselowski said ‘his day is coming and it’s coming hard.’
Hocevar is unmoved, and for the number of people in the garage that seem to be over it, his personality is also winning over an entirely new fanbase from within and outside of traditional NASCAR circles.
NASCAR recently even sent out a press release celebrating the 15-versus-1 dynamic of Hocevar in the Chase for the Championship. Spire Motorsports leaned into it with this tweet.
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“I only care what Jeff (Dickerson, Spire Motorsports co-owner), the sponsors and my team says,” Hocevar said. “Whether it changes because of what Brad or Denny, or any of those guys think, I do care.
“But I think, ultimately, that racing is a family sport and this is a family and I just care what my family thinks, that is ultimately the most important.”
Hocevar has said this many times over the years, but he doesn’t spend a lot of time apologizing because he finds them shallow — especially when it’s just a byproduct of the ‘shit happen, hard racing’ he frequently finds himself in.
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“It would annoy me more if roles were reversed, and I hear ‘oh sorry,’ and heard it all the time,” Hocevar said. “For me, that would rub me the wrong way because it’s just artificial. We’re just racing really hard and there are possibilities for mistakes and just barely getting into somebody, both sides. We’re racing really hard.
“I have just never liked the whole getting a phone call on Monday and (getting an apology) because it’s like ‘oh you’re only strategically making this call anyways’ and I don’t care to hear that.”
Basically, Hocevar says this is all the result of hard racing, unintentional, and that doesn’t warrant shallow apologies. He called it ‘extra fluff.’
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Hocevar said Keselowski could have talked to him immediately after the race on Sunday night if he were so inclined. But at the same time, Hocevar isn’t interested in what he calls ‘the BS’ because he feels the two of them were just racing hard.
In his mind, it’s as simple as that. In the minds of his critics, they can agree to racing hard but would want some degree of remorse if something happens, and they’re not going to get it.
Hocevar finds the remorse hypocritical, and in his words, he and Dickerson both hate hypocrisy. This is a matter of intellectual honesty.
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“I mean, Corey Heim dumped me at San Diego, so I don’t know,” Hocevar said. “And Zane (Smith) tried at Chicago(land), so I feel like people have taken their shots off and I don’t think I was a hypocrite or lost my mind or anything. Honestly, I respect it.”
This is just his own personal honor code.
Hocevar detailed an interaction he had with Bubba Wallace after Martinsville in the spring. They were racing hard and Wallace ‘full throttled’ him and spun him out. Wallace explained he was mad.
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Again, and this is a consistent them, that was the end of that.
“He was just upset, but I’m a fan of the sport, obviously and I think my response back to him and I have the text message that I was just happy that I was on the lead lap at Martinsville and got wrecked just for no other reason than Martinsville pisses drivers off,” Hocevar said. “I was just an innocent bystander.
“I’ve watched that my whole life at Martinsville, so I was like, man, I don’t know if this is my made it moment, but pretty close to it.”
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This is just Carson Hocevar living his best life, and as long as he has the support from Dickerson to keep doing this way, that’s what he is going to do.
“He was a driver, but he was an agent for Kyle (Busch) and spotter for Kyle, and then spotter for Jeff (Gordon) and everybody, and then agents for so many others,” Hocevar said. “And he raced himself, or he wouldn’t say race, he’d say probably flipped or participated when he ran Midgets and whatnot.
“But no, I look at him as the mentor or whatever adjective you want to use. I really lean on him, and he’s given me his full support, and in turn, I try my best to listen and take his advice, obviously.”
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For Hocevar, all of this is the joy of being a driver at the highest level of NASCAR. He is racing for wins more often than not, selling a lot of shirts, and growing his fanbase. This is his idea of fun.
“This is a lifelong dream for me,” Hocevar said. “I want to enjoy every second of this. I care about my race team, and what they say, the adults in the room, I care what they think and say.”
That’s a reference to Hamlin saying there are no adults overseeing Hocevar, by the way.
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“My guys want clean races,” Hocevar said. “They want to go forward and run up front and they want to win another race. And that’s why I was disappointed that I got loose and wrecked at Daytona because I thought we could have had a shot there, but they much rather have that than me not trying.
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“But at the same time, it’s the balance of everything. I like to have fun and we race for the fans and we appreciate them. We obviously love selling t-shirts and everything because we want to look in the crowd and feel appreciated. …
“I think a lot of people misinterpret me having fun or our team having fun with being unserious, or that we don’t care. We just want to enjoy every aspect of the game, and part of that game is showing love to the fans. … We also love going as fast as possible.”
Hocevar believes its possible to do both.
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