The Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville was supposed to be just another step in Carson Hocevar’s rising career. Instead, it became a defining moment. The 22-year-old Spire Motorsports driver stormed through the field, racing with grit, speed, and edge. He finished second, tying the best of his Cup Series career, and walked away with something else: headlines and heat. Hocevar stirred up the hornet’s nest when he sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning on Lap 106, earning Stenhouse his first DNF of the season.
What followed wasn’t just boos or dirty looks; it was silence from Hocevar, and that hit harder than any bump on track. Stenhouse wasn’t quiet about it as he expected an apology. He didn’t get one. “If you don’t, you just roll on with it. No, I’ve not gotten a call from him. I’ve talked to his owner. Jeff Dickerson and I are super tight. I haven’t gotten a call from him, so to my point, he doesn’t really care about it, which is fine,” Stenhouse said a few days later. Notably, this wasn’t Hocevar’s first controversial moment of the season. Earlier this year, he tangled with Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Busch in Atlanta.
While everyone was fuming at him for his on-track antics, Hocevar continued his racing stint as he won the third ‘Money in the Bank’ race at Berlin. When fans and fellow drivers expected an apology, he continued to drive hard. But just days before the next showdown in Michigan, the story took a turn no one expected. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Hocevar admitted fault and reached out to his on-track rivals.
Facing the fallout: Carson Hocevar comes clean
Just two days after his impressive performance at Nashville Super Speedway, Carson Hocevar took the Money in the Bank field at Berlin Raceway. The Spire Motorsports driver not only won the race but also bagged a whopping $15,000 in the UARA super late model test on his home track. Notably, he started seventh and crawled his way back into the lead on lap 43. Since then, he dominated the race by delivering a stunning performance.
After winning the Late Model race, Hocevar moved back to the NASCAR world and apologized to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Hocevar came clean. After dusting his hands free of any wrongdoing post-Nashville, he called into the show and confessed what many had been waiting to hear. According to Danielle Trotta, Hocevar said, “We don’t wanna put anymore targets on my back. I feel bad, I’ve texted with Ricky if he wants to talk again, Michigan, we can… I didn’t want to wreck him, I thought he’d run the middle, and he came down and I got in his LR.”
Carson Hocevar just said all the right things to us post Ricky & Nashville @SiriusXMNASCAR
• We don’t wanna put anymore targets on my back. I feel bad, I’ve texted w Ricky if he wants to talk again Michigan we can.
• I didn’t want to wreck him I thought he’d run the…
— Danielle Trotta (@DanielleTrotta) June 4, 2025
His words were direct, unfiltered, and far more mature than fans expected from the fiery young driver. Notably, Hocevar didn’t walk back his entire racing style. He made it clear he wasn’t going to change who he is. “I don’t wanna change or lose my edge. I just need to smooth the edges a bit,” he further added. That line captured his new balance, still aggressive, still confident, but now with a bit more awareness about the consequences of his actions. For someone who had made enemies out of Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, and Ryan Blaney already this year, it was a strategic shift.
Statistically, Hocevar is having a breakout season. His second-place finish in Nashville was his best yet, matching his Atlanta performance. He’s been climbing steadily in the points standings and is now on the cusp of playoff contention. But he has a lot to improve on if he wants to compete in the knockout stages. In just the first half of the 2025 season, he’s already triggered three DNFs for other drivers. The clash with Stenhouse was just the latest spark in his firebrand campaign.
Interestingly, Hocevar’s change of heart came just after a public critique from Dale Earnhardt Jr. During his podcast, Dale Jr. didn’t outright condemn the wreck but pointedly noted, “I do know that Carson had time to save Ricky’s a– there and not wreck him.” That comment carried weight. Dale Jr. has been one of Hocevar’s biggest backers all year, likening him to his father, the legendary Dale Earnhardt.
If Jr. was calling him out, it meant something. Now, as the Cup Series heads to Michigan, the temperature between the two drivers might cool off, for now. But the apology doesn’t erase what happened, and it definitely doesn’t stop the garage from keeping their eyes on Hocevar. Meanwhile, Dale Jr. has been vocal about something else, too: his respect for what Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has been doing this season.
Dale Jr. on Ricky Stenhouse Overachieving
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. might not have the fastest car on the grid, but he’s squeezing out every ounce of performance from it. Heading into Nashville, he was sitting above the playoff cutline, something Dale Jr. couldn’t help but admire. “Ricky has maximized, basically almost every race this year, to put himself above the cutline going into Nashville. I mean, this guy’s got a legit shot at making the playoffs on points with a team that should not be there. He should be 25th in points with no shot at making the playoffs, but here he was, coming in ahead of the cutline,” Dale Jr said.
That success hasn’t come easily. Hyak Motorsports is a one-car operation with limited resources. Their pit crew, speed, and passing numbers are down, yet Stenhouse kept showing up where it counts, in the final results. “If you like an underdog story, that’s a perfect one for you. I hated to see Ricky (wreck). I’m a broadcaster, I need that storyline. That story about Ricky being that underdog team that’s succeeding, that’s up there above the bubble line? I need that,” Earnhardt Jr. added.
However, Dale Jr. wasn’t placing blame entirely on Hocevar. He understood both sides. “Carson is trying to beat that guy into the playoffs,” he said. Still, he recognized what was lost. Stenhouse was a surprise storyline, a driver fighting uphill, and succeeding. That kind of story doesn’t come around often in today’s Cup Series. Dale Jr. saw that. And now, he’s eager to know what happens next in this story.
The post “Don’t Wanna Put Any More Targets on My Back” – Carson Hocevar Shockingly Changes Tune as He Concedes Fault in Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Clash appeared first on EssentiallySports.