Kyle Busch has been through it all. From being NASCAR’s bad boy to becoming one of the cleanest drivers on the grid, his journey in the Cup Series has been anything but ordinary. But if there’s one thing that ‘Rowdy’ hates, it’s younger drivers showing zero respect for their competitors. It’s kind of ironic that the Nevada native thinks this way, given how he used to be back in the early days. However, his current tiff is with Carson Hocevar, who has fully embraced his ‘villain-arc’.
The only difference is that Busch had Tony Stewart to guide him. With the help of ‘Smoke’, Busch adapted, learned, and got better. That’s a figure Hocevar desperately lacks, and ‘Rowdy’ is unwilling to take over that role to tame the Spire Motorsports driver.
It’s time for Kyle Busch to embrace the mentorship role
“I don’t care if I wreck the whole f—— field. I’m going to wreck his a–”, said a furious Kyle Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The anger was directed at Carson Hocevar of course, whose rash driving didn’t go down well with many senior racers on the track. What rubbed the 39-year-old the wrong way wasn’t just the ‘aggressive’ style of driving, but the blatant lack of respect for Hocevar’s colleagues, who were all fighting for the win. The complaints against the Michigan native are nothing new, as he sideswiped ‘Rowdy’ almost a decade ago at Kalamazoo Speedway back in the day.
Highlighting the underlying reasons behind Carson Hocevar’s driving style, Kyle Busch said on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, “Never nothing after the fact, never a sorry, hey my bad, nothing. Same thing right now. He hasn’t learned not one thing because he hasn’t been under someone’s wing this entire time.” However, NASCAR YouTuber Eric Estepp is wondering why doesn’t ‘Rowdy’ take over the mentorship role, saying, “I have to ask, ‘Have you tried? Have you made an effort to reach Carson Hocevar to mentor/coach? Have you confronted Carson Hocevar face to face?”
Carson Hocevar is just 22 years old and is in his sophomore Cup Series season. Those who have followed Busch’s career will remember that he was 26 when he fenced Ron Hornaday in Texas. At that time, Tony Stewart had taken him aside and said, “You just have to figure out how to rein it all in and be in control.” Now it’s time for the Richard Childress Racing driver to pay it back. It’s not a role the Nevada native is completely unfamiliar with, as he has influenced William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Erik Jones to become better drivers.
All three of those names were a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports during their time in the Truck Series. Busch has closely mentored them and all three of them are arguably some of the cleanest drivers in the sport now. Busch even pointed out a specific instance where his talk with Christopher Bell last year helped him race cleaner in 2025.
Last year, Kyle Busch confronted Bell at the Circuit of the Americas after an on-track incident. This year, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was careful not to repeat the same mistake, and cleanly overtook the No. 8 Chevy on his way to securing a win. Bell even spoke about being conscious of last year’s incident, saying after the race, “Whenever Kyle was leading, I was just trying to be so cautious. Obviously, we know what happened last year. I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to pass him clean.” Speaking of confrontations, Estepp brought up another point about how Busch very clearly had the chance to do so with Hocevar.
“Go back to Atlanta, Hocevar made a few enemies, including Kyle Busch. Ross Chastain pulled him aside after the race. Ryan Blaney confronted him, spoke face-to-face. Kyle Busch had a chance and did not take it,” Estepp pointed out. The Atlanta race was Hocevar’s career-best finish in the Cup Series at P2 behind Christopher Bell. However, on his way to P2, he frustrated Ryan Blaney with a shove on his bumper while going into a turn, and angered his mentee Ross Chastain as well with his antics. Blaney even said on the radio, “He’s just a m—-“, in a fit of rage, but composed himself to have a chat with the youngster, unlike Kyle Busch. The Nevada native was nowhere to be seen.
If he can make a positive influence on the Oklahoman, why can’t he do the same for Carson Hocevar? Perhaps he has tried to reach out behind the scenes, only to be ignored. We might never know. But as one of the senior drivers, he must mentor the young guns, and repay what Tony Stewart did for him back in the day.
Can Busch finally break his winless streak at Homestead-Miami?
Kyle Busch has had quite a decent start to his Cup Series season. While a win continues to elude the Richard Childress Racing driver, three top-ten finishes in the opening five races show a stark improvement compared to last year. However, with the 2025 Straight Talk Wireless 400 on the horizon, the question on everybody’s mind is the same. Can Rowdy finally break his 62-race winless streak at the Homestead-Miami Speedway?
Sharing his expectations in a recent interview, Kyle Busch said, “I’ve always looked forward to going to Homestead-Miami Speedway. It’s a unique mile-and-a-half. We’ve run well there. I’ve won there. It’s been a great track for me. I’ve won two championships by winning races there. It’s always been a fun race track. It lends itself to drivers well because it can be a three, even four-lane track as we venture from the bottom all the way to the wall. It’s going to be exciting to have Bank OZK on our No. 8 Chevrolet for the first time, we’re looking forward to giving them a strong run and finish.”
Homestead-Miami Speedway is a track Kyle Busch knows all too well. Apart from his multiple Cup Series triumphs at the South Florida venue, the Nevada native has also won thrice there in the Xfinity and Truck Series. Going into the upcoming race, the Richard Childress Racing driver will be hoping to recreate some of that magic, to secure his 64th victory at the highest level in his 720th Cup Series start. Do you think ‘Rowdy’ will break his winless streak in the upcoming race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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