Carson Hocevar ruffled feathers with some of his NASCAR peers after his career-best Ambetter Health 400 finish. Hocevar finished second for the first time in the NASCAR Cup Series, but his careless driving riled up the field. The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, however, says that he’s not concerned about losing friends in the community.
Carson Hocevar Prefers Wins Over Playing Nice
Hocevar shared some intriguing thoughts after his runner-up finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. Reporters pressed him on whether he was content with his run, given the aggressive approach he took late in the race. Yet, Hocevar did not feel the need to sugarcoat his answer.
Hocevar says while he has some things to clean up, he’s here to win races not build boy bands, express love for others, or play on playgrounds together. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/O0qWIzW5hD
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) February 24, 2025
“We’re here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other and play in the playground together,” he told Toby Christie of Racing America. “Obviously, there’s learning lessons. You don’t want to p*** anybody off or frustrate anybody. There are things I would clean up for sure.
“It’s going to come with learning that. …I’m normally 40th, waiting for them to crash and hopefully crash, and I finish in the teens. To be up front and get stage points both stages and have a shot to win is something to hold my head high real much. I’ve always said I’m a really bad superspeedway racer, so this at least gives me a little bit more confidence.”
Hocevar Addresses Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney Confrontations
Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney weren’t too pleased with Hocevar’s aggressive driving and confronted him after the race. The tension peaked on Lap 234 when Hocevar spun Blaney while he was battling near the front. Luckily, Blaney’s car remained unscathed, and he was able to carry on.
Hocevar refused to elaborate on his exchanges with Chastain and Bleney.
“I’ll just leave those to myself,” he said, “… I normally ride in the back, and it was trying to get a good, decent finish and for how bad we were at Daytona. … There’s some stuff I gotta clean up a little bit, but I feel like we put ourselves in the perfect opportunity to try to win a race. I’ve never had that opportunity really before — especially on a superspeedway.”
