Denny Hamlin calls out Spire as 'unserious' and gets a response from Carson Hocevar

The drama that started at Darlington on Sunday is still making waves across the NASCAR world.

The inciting incident in this case came from Carson Hocevar, who pretty blatantly wrecked Brad Keselowski in the closing laps of Stage 1 of the Southern 500. Hocevar got into the left-rear of the No. 6, sending Keselowski spinning and ending his race day early. The No. 77 would go on to finish in 11th.

After the race, Keselowski promised that he would get back at Hocevar on the track, while Hocevar was shockingly dismissive of the contact.

“Yeah he spun,” he said smiling, when asked about the contact. “I don’t know what happened. He spun.”

Hocevar immediately came under criticism for those comments, with NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett both weighing in to express their shock.

One person that didn’t want to weigh in was Denny Hamlin. On his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin was quick to try and jump past the Hocevar conversation.

“Carson wrecked Brad, what else?” Hamlin said when asked about the controversy.

After one of his co-hosts implied that it seemed like Hocevar didn’t care if he finished last in the Chase standings, Hamlin refused to comment further.

“You’re not going to get anything more from me. I’m not going to give him what he wants. I’m not going to give him the clip that he wants. Period.”

Hamlin instead was quick to lay into Hocevar’s team, Spire Motorsports, for what he views as a mishandling of the entire situation.

“You want me to talk about Spire? I’ll talk about Spire,” Hamlin said. “There’s no adults in that room. Clearly. In that building. No adults. That’s my opinion. Because, how can you honestly think that’s what’s best for your company? If you’re running a serious organization? I think they’re unserious. Anything else?”

“But I’m not talking about him anymore. I’m not going to give him what he wants. I’ll talk about Spire if you want to talk about Spire.”

Hamlin view carries a unique perspective, as he is both a driver and a team owner, so his criticisms of Spire hit a bit harder than just any driver complaining about how a team is conducting itself. Further, Hamlin has some personal angst against Spire independent of Hocevar.

Spire’s Chief Motorsports Officer Chris Gabehart used to work as Hamlin’s crew chief, and remains at the center of a lawsuit regarding data he took from JGR to Spire when he joined. JGR is seeking $8 million in damages. The litigation is still ongoing.

In the meantime, Hocevar posted a response of sorts to Hamlin’s comments on social media.

“So many people are gonna discredit you for being a fan of us,” he wrote. “They’re gonna call you dumb, fake fans, and worse. NASCAR doesn’t have to be that serious. We race for the fans. Even the ones that hate us. Regardless if we’re an unersious [sic] organization.”

Clearly, there’s more to this story to be told, and what happens when Keselowski, Hocevar, and Hamlin are all once again behind the wheel this weekend in Illinois is anyone’s guess.

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