Carson Hocevar doesn’t have any friends on the grid, and that was clear when Ryan Blaney in a Ford was pushed across the finish line in Atlanta by Christopher Bell in a Toyota. 

The Chevy driver Hocevar was surrounded by Toyota cars, and no one was around to give him a helping hand like Blaney received.

Hocevar’s aggressive driving has made him several enemies, the most recent among them being Front Row’s Zane Smith, who attempted to take out Hocevar in Chicagoland and ended up putting himself into the wall. 

Kevin Harvick praised Hocevar on his Happy Hour podcast and said, “I like the way he drives. You’re going to p*** a lot of people off with the moves and things that you’re making. But when you have the speed like he does to back it up and you own it.

"He's fast, he owns it, he's living and dying on the sword, right?"

Harvick’s co-host, Kaitlyn Vincie, was speaking about how Zane Smith came out and said that he didn’t like Hocevar as a person, let alone as a driver, to which Kevin Harvick backed up Hocevar, saying the Spire 77 driver keeps it real. 

Many drivers and experts have advised Hocevar on his style; for instance, the recent one being Bubba Wallace after the Michigan race.

But Harvick spoke about how Hocevar doesn’t put on any false imagery and said, “It’s not like he’s making up some BS that makes you think that I’m a nice guy or I didn’t do this or I feel sorry for him. He’s just right to it. Honest. And I’d rather have it that way than some BS to go along with trying to justify it.”

Harvick did say he likes to see the rivalries brewing, and Hocevar agreed with it too, despite being in the centre of it all.

Hocevar says clashing is good for the sport

Carson Hocevar went to the NASCAR hauler for a chat with Zane Smith as NASCAR called the drivers in to sort out their issues from Chicagoland. 

For Smith, it was all a buildup from the race in Iowa last year, where he was taken out by Hocevar. So whatever Smith did in Chicagoland was his form of payback. 

On the Happy Hour podcast, a clip was shared of Hocevar’s thoughts after the conversation in NASCAR’s hauler. Hocevar said, “I think what drives sports is passion and clashing. It’s good.”

Kevin Harvick spoke about how no one around Hocevar wanted to give him a push at the end of the race because he’s been making enemies across the grid. Harvick said:

“And it costs him a chance at winning this race this weekend because nobody would help him, but as that list gets bigger, he doesn’t seem to mind, which is great for all of us. I love watching it. I love watching the confrontations. I love watching the chatter.”

Hocevar has been one of the most entertaining drivers in the 2026 Cup season, and while drivers around him want to change, Harvick and Hocevar himself understand the entertainment value of what the Spire 77 driver does out on track. 

Do you think Hocevar should change? Let us know. 

Read more at Daytona Racing Digest.

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason