BROOKLYN, Mich. — Carson Hocevar has made amends with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after their run-in last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.
Stenhouse said Hocevar called him Wednesday afternoon to discuss their on-track collision, which came after Hocevar bumped Stenhouse entering Turn 3 at Lap 106 of last week’s Cracker Barrel 400, spinning Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet into the wall and ending his day prematurely.
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Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, both drivers described their conversation as “productive” heading into Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I felt like we had good conversations,” Stenhouse said. “I let him know how I felt about it. He kind of walked through the scenario of what he was thinking during that situation and how he basically wishes he could have changed that. So, yeah, I thought it was productive.”
Though Stenhouse is in his 13th season and Hocevar only his second, each have found themselves in the crosshairs of disagreements with other competitors. The two utilized that common ground in the process of smoothing things over.
“Me and him both have the reputation, I guess, of both being aggressive at times,” Hocevar said. “So at one point, we both reminded each other that even with those reputations, obviously we’ve raced each other very well together. We’ve had no issues before, as he had said, and feel like we’ve had a decent relationship leading up to this, so I thought it was productive. And based off his comments, I felt like it was received (well).”
Mired behind the confrontation was a career day for Hocevar, who finished second to race winner Ryan Blaney and tied his career-best finish. The No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet has been fast all year, evidenced in part by his 12th-most stage points this season. But one moment one-third of the way into the race has dominated the conversation around the 22-year-old this week.
That hasn’t bothered Hocevar much, who knows the “1,000 decisions a race” he makes will be overshadowed by the one or two that cause a caution.
“It’s cool to just be talked about,” he said. “Obviously, you want to be talked about maybe in a different light, but, I mean, at least they’re talking, right? I think that’s big for me. And you consume it. You see it all. As [Spire co-owner] Jeff Dickerson had mentioned before, we’re trying to round the edges, and then you have your heroes texting you, ‘Just don’t change,’ right? He’s like, ‘Hold on. We need at least something a little different.’
“But yeah, ultimately, it’s fun to be in the news. I mean, it’s what I’ve dreamt of my whole life, of just at least being topic of conversation. Yeah, so, I mean it’s cool from that aspect, but obviously, you want it to be when you just dominate a Cup race and they can’t stop talking to you. That’s probably ultimately the next goal.”
Stenhouse and Dickerson have a close relationship. Dickerson previously worked as a driver manager and agent for Stenhouse through Motorsports Management International and was integral in getting Stenhouse first in a USAC sprint car and Silver Crown race car before aiding his rise to Roush Fenway (now RFK) Racing, working hand-in-hand with Stenhouse through 2019. Knowing Hocevar had Dickerson to lean on left Stenhouse optimistic Hocecvar would call to discuss their recent run-in.
It’s all part of Hocevar’s learning process as an up-and-coming frontrunner.
“Over the last month, he’s had cars capable of running in the top five,” Stenhouse said of Hocevar. “And I think that was more of what I was telling him is, like, you’re plenty fast. Just go around me, right? Like you don’t have to put yourselves in those spots. When you’re slow and struggling to pass people, that’s when you end up needing to take risks every now and then, whether it be calculated or not.
“So I mean, I guess he’ll learn over time. With all the texts I got this week about what people wanted me to do to him, I would say he hasn’t learned very quickly. But again, it’s the first time anything has come my way. Him and I, we raced around each other a lot the last couple years. So this is the first time we’ve had any issues. … I’m pissed about what all transpired, but I can’t just go wreck him or do what I wanted to do during the race.”
Blaney is another driver who previously spun off the front bumper of Hocevar, most memorably at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta) in February.
“In my mind, hard racing is fantastic,” Blaney said Saturday. “Everyone races hard. Contact is going to happen. I think it’s an issue if it happens repetitively, like a lot. I think that’s when it starts becoming an issue. Like, do you learn from your mistakes? You can say you’re sorry all you want, but if you don’t learn from them and make a change, then everyone thinks you’re lying and you don’t feel sorry about that.”
Blaney, the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, clarified he isn’t critiquing Hocevar as much and is rather conscious of how Hocevar improves from past incidents.
“I mean, hey, he’s a young guy,” Blaney said. “All of us have been young. We’ve all been aggressive. Everyone has a heavy right foot when they get going and that’s good. I think he’s a very, very talented race car driver. Like, he’s one of the best guys out there. It’s hard to teach speed. I think it’s just that he has to refine a little bit what he does. I don’t think he has to change who he is because this is what got him here. But I think he’s got to possibly think of some situations that he’s been in and just try to learn from them.”
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