Carson Hocevar might have finished the Ambetter Health 400 in P2, but his most significant achievement of the day was making a few big-name enemies. Apart from upsetting Kyle Larson and Rick Hendrick right before the end, Hocevar crossed Kyle Busch.
Busch was furious with the rookie throughout the race, even dropping all his filters to swear at the No. 77 Chevrolet driver. Threats of wrecking his Chevy teammate were flying around as Busch did not take kindly to Hocevar’s aggressive driving.
When things calmed down after the race, the No. 8 driver was still not over the rookie’s moves and delivered a passive-aggressive assessment of the P2 finisher’s outing.
Kyle Busch Has His Say on Carson Hocevar’s ‘Bold Moves’
Once he was out of the car, Busch faced questions about the No. 77 driver’s outing, and the senior driver did not shy away from being honest about his feelings. While the rookie was driving a fast car, some of his moves were unwarranted. Given the fact that all teams and drivers are given the same equipment, Hocevar’s moves did not sit well with Rowdy.
“He’s making a lot of bold moves to just try to make the most of it,” claimed Busch. He added that the 22-year-old had a “lot of, lot of, lot of close calls.” There was even an instance when Hocevar did not have a clean overtake on the veteran driver, but Busch quickly adapted.
#NASCAR … Kyle Busch on Carson Hocevar after tonight’s race at Atlanta pic.twitter.com/ymkKBjZ9vq
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) February 24, 2025
The No. 8 driver had to lift off the gas to ensure no incident occurred. Furthermore, the Spire Motorsports driver put Rowdy in the fence after Turn 2 in the first stage. Therefore, the rookie driver was just going for gaps at the last minute, creating log jams behind him.
While Busch, who famously earned the “Rowdy” nickname for equally aggressive driving, kept his cool during the post-race interview, the same can’t be said for when the incidents happened mid-race.
“Go tell that 77 he’s done that same f****** move 10 times,” Busch said on his team radio. He added, “I don’t care if I wreck the whole f****** field. I’m over him. He’s a f****** do******. I’m going to wreck his ass.”
Notably, Busch wasn’t the only senior driver who was furious with Hocevar’s antics. Ross Chastain ended up pulling the young driver away from the mics to have a personal conversation, which ended in a handshake. Following that, Ryan Blaney would confront the newbie, but their conversation seemed to end on a not-so-friendly note.
