Carson Hocevar took a dig at NASCAR’s inconsistent track regulations. The polarizing NASCAR star weighed in on a recent X post, slamming NASCAR for failing to inform drivers that cutting corners into Turn 6 was permitted.
Carson Hocevar Voices Strong Disapproval of NASCAR’s COTA Officiating
A lack of clarity regarding track limits caused significant confusion among drivers during the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday. The controversy began when Shane van Gisbergen aggressively cut Turn 6.
NASCAR has long struggled to find a consistent way to enforce track limits on road courses. But none of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix participants had any real understanding of which corners they could exploit and which ones were off-limits.
When NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck ran a poll on X asking fans whether COTA delivered a good race, Hocevar chimed in. The Spire Motorsports driver stressed the need for drivers to be informed about track limit allowances.
hi jeff,
i missed the memo that we could just go ahead and cut corners. next time if they could be sure to get everyone that memo. that would be great. especially since we have to work on sunday.
thanks
— Carson Hocevar (@CarsonHocevar) March 3, 2025
“Hi Jeff, I missed the memo that we could just go ahead and cut corners. Next time if they could be sure to get everyone that memo. That would be great. Especially since we have to work on Sunday. Thanks,” he wrote.
NASCAR initially stated that the center esses would be monitored for track limit violations using cameras, but it was unclear which specific corners were included. After Van Gisbergen began aggressively cutting Turn 6, Kyle Busch radioed his team for clarification on whether he could follow suit.
Following a conversation with NASCAR officials, Busch’s team informed him that only Turns 3, 4, and 5 were being enforced.
According to the New York Times, however, this information is not explicitly shared with drivers in pre-race meetings.
Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic voiced strong criticisms of NASCAR’s COTA track limit fiasco on “The Teardown” podcast.
“In Stage 1, social media starts lighting up with a lot of questions because leader Shane van Gisbergen is cutting Turn 6 on every lap,” Gluck pointed out. “People have all these pictures and they’re sending in questions, what’s going on?
“Finally, Stage 1 ends and Kyle Busch comes on the radio and he had been right behind SVG … His team says, ‘Hold on, we’re going to check with NASCAR.’ This is during the Stage 1 break. And they come back and they say, ‘Guess what? NASCAR says they’re going to police Turns 3, 4, and 5 but not Turn 6.’
“So, feel free to go through there. After the race, Kyle Busch was upset about this and said, ‘NASCAR ain’t got a clue,’ about what they’re doing officiating-wise with the essess.”
