By Jerry Jordan, Editor
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Carson Hocevar is suspended from driving in Sunday’s championship finale because Spire Motorsports parked him for brake-checking Austin Cindric at Martinsville and he spent 20 minutes Friday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway answering for it.
The final question of the session was whether he was worried about defending himself next season with a bullseye on his back from drivers he has angered and how he would react because NASCAR will be watching his response. The question isn’t “if” Hocevar will get spun or put into the wall; it’s “when.” There was no right answer to the question but the response he gave was unwavering.
“I get dumped,” Hocevar told Kickin’ the Tires. “Like, you know, I don’t know what, I don’t know really what changes there. Yeah, I mean, I think that would just be racing. So like, I don’t know. I restart my engine and will probably unspin around and see if I have damage or not. That’s probably how I, and then I’ll radio to my team and say, I might have damage on my left rear. And that’s probably how I’ll react in that moment.”
The answer fit the question-and-answer session. Hocevar arrived at the track Friday with an 18-minute apology video already posted publicly on YouTube and he used the availability to own the suspension in front of the NASCAR media corps, saying the team’s call was right and that he realized he forced the decision that was made.
“I made the decision,” Hocevar said. “I forced their decision. So, you know, it’s not anybody else’s doing this to me. I did this.”
He said he knew the brake-check crossed the line before he ever touched the pedal at Martinsville.
“Probably before I started hitting the brakes,” Hocevar said. “I knew it was like, that’s a possibility for sure. But I took a percentage risk of that. And clearly, I didn’t win on it, or didn’t come out looking good on it.”
Asked if this penalty changes anything when the fines before did not, Hocevar reached for the analogy team co-owner Jeff Dickerson gave him about money meaning nothing to a rich man who can pay any parking ticket. He said the suspension is the first consequence that actually hurt.
“Maybe the stove wasn’t hot enough, Jeff?” Hocevar said. “I keep my hand on it until it finally burned and burned my hand. I think my hand’s pretty burnt. So I think ultimately, you know, the burn is me not driving.”
He will be at the track all weekend while Justin Haley drives the No. 77 and he said watching Sunday will be easier than people expect, because he believes the punishment fits.
“Because I think Jeff made the right call and I’m a believer in it,” Hocevar said. “So I have to own it, right? And if I believe that’s the right decision, then it’s not as difficult as it might be.”
Hocevar has not spoken with Cindric and said he will not force the conversation because the apology he owed most was the one he delivered to his own team in person.
The line Hocevar has to walk in 2027, he said, is keeping in check the aggression that put him in highlight reels while cutting the incidents that put him in the penalty box.
“They put it in the highlight and commercial reels with the front bumper,” Hocevar said. “They’re not going to put it with the rear bumper. And badasses make moves going forward, not backwards. We can’t lose the aggression side.”
And for the fans who watched the apology video and do not believe a word of it, he had no pitch.
“That’s fine,” Hocevar said. “I’m not gonna go chase everybody’s opinion.”