Motorsport News

Drivers React to Carson Hocevar’s Nashville Penalty

Nascar Cup Series

CHICAGO — After intentionally spinning Harrison Burton under caution last Sunday (June 30) at Nashville Superspeedway, Carson Hocevar was hit with a $50,000 fine and 25-point penalty prior to this weekend’s action in Chicago.

When I asked Carson during Saturday’s (July 6) media session if he and Harrison had talked in the past week to try and smooth things over, he gave me a very straightforward response: “No.”

Given that this is not Hocevar’s first incident involving intentional spins or right-rear hooks, some NASCAR Cup Series drivers shared their thoughts on Hocevar’s actions last weekend and the resulting penalty he received.

“Yeah, don’t hook anybody,” Ryan Blaney said. “You get penalized. Pay money, pay points, park them if you have to. That’s something I’ve seen too many times out of that guy (Hocevar) from different series. That’s not cool. Don’t do that. …

“I think everyone made a big deal when Hocevar did that in the Cup race, and then they rightfully penalized him after the race. That’s the only way you’ll get that stuff to stop. You have to make them pay a lot of money, fine them from points, things like that. If it’s bad enough, make them sit out. You know, that’s just stuff that you learn as a young driver. Don’t do. There are a lot of no-no’s, and that’s one of them. And I don’t care if it’s under caution or under green. Both of them are bad. …

“And like I said, that’s something I’ve seen reoccurring with him that hopefully he learns from it. And hopefully when there’s a little bit of hole in his pocket after the money he had to pay, it teaches you a lesson of don’t do that anymore.”

Todd Gilliland had a bird’s eye view of Burton’s spin last weekend, and he echoed the sentiments Blaney shared in his press conference.

“Absolutely,” Gilliland said. “I think to me, there’s a different video of him, and I was leading at Vegas in the Trucks and he just [intentionally] spun out on the apron. And it’s just like little things like that, that’s just lame in the moment. But then it keeps happening, and it’s just like, why? It just seems selfish at some point.

“Everyone can change and, obviously, [Hocevar] has a lot of talent. He’s been fast. So yeah, it’s just disappointing to see that kind of over and over, for sure.”

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