Zane Smith: Carson Hocevar is a “Coward” and “Full of S***”
What’s Happening? Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith might have reignited the flames of a rivalry with Carson Hocevar during a…
Denny Hamlin shared some wise words for Carson Hocevar during the latest episode of his podcast following the Spire Motorsports driver’s narrow loss at EchoPark Speedway.
Many NASCAR fans felt that Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar was left out to dry by Christopher Bell coming to the finish of Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark Speedway.
While Bell gave the push to eventual race winner Ryan Blaney, Hocevar sat in the middle with no help and a third-place finish.
Even if this decision was strategic, given his constant ability to find drama both off and on the track, this move was no surprise to Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who shared on the latest episode of his podcast Actions Detrimental, that Hocevar’s actions off track will always come around to bite him on raceday.
“As a competitor, I agree a lot with how [Jeff] Burton and Jamie [McMurray] broke it down, is that you don’t race the fans, you race your competitors, and there’s more of them than there are you,” Hamlin said. “And the competitors definitely play a big role in how you finish on a week-to-week basis.”
Hamlin added that while Hocevar may get attention for his bold personality in the media, the fans aren’t the only ones watching.
“I certainly think that while it may sound good in an interview when you come down to the end of the race, those words sometimes can hurt your uh your finishing position.” — Denny Hamlin
Of course, some fans have pointed out that Bell pushing Blaney made the most sense and worked out for the No. 20, who brought home a second-place finish, his second in as many weeks.
In Hamlin’s eyes, finishing position will always be a factor in that decision-making, but there are also a number of drivers who have outright said they will not help Hocevar during a race.
“There are drivers and there was drivers in our meeting today that says no matter what they will not push Carson Hocevar to a victory. Absolutely not. They’ll push anyone else. So I mean that you know when you say those things you just . . . you can’t disrespect them on and off the track.” — Denny Hamlin
Hamlin continued by comparing Hocevar’s actions to past NASCAR greats, and even to three-time Champion Joey Logano, recalling how Logano’s off-track attitude may have cost him the 2015 Cup Series title after his playoff run-ins with Matt Kenseth.
The 23XI Racing co-owner continued his history lesson with some words of advice for Hocevar, pointing out that, from his perspective, every great driver was at the very least respected by their peers in the garage area.
“It’s just one of those things where you don’t have to have a lot of friends, but you definitely can’t have a lot of enemies,” Hamlin said. “And I think about the greats of our sport, all the greats, there’s never been a great of our sport that has not been respected by his peers.”
What’s Happening? Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith might have reignited the flames of a rivalry with Carson Hocevar during a…
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