They say karma doesn’t wait for a warning; it simply waits for the right moment. And according to NASCAR analyst and former driver Jamie McMurray, Carson Hocevar could be closer to finding that out.

The Brickyard 400 on Sunday was eventful for a lot of reasons, and Hocevar’s racing antics were surely a major part of them. From showing race-winner and rival Corey Heim the bird to desperately trying to overtake the leader to get his lap back, Hocevar was very much in the limelight.

But with the way things are going, McMurray feels he could eventually face payback from the Cup drivers. Stepping in for Dale Jr this week in the Dale Jr Download podcast, McMurray dissected Hocevar’s racing persona in detail.

"My take on Carson is that, as an analyst, I'm there to analyze what a driver thinks. So I'm putting myself in the position of the other 30 guys that he's racing against every week, and I can't help but think, 'Just put the shovel down. Stop fueling the fire.' You can make one guy mad. Like, if you want to make Corey Heim mad, that's fine. But you can't make everyone mad.

“If you make everyone mad, it's going to be you're there's whoever wins the championship this year, someone's going to cut him a break. A couple of people are going to cut him a break because maybe in the past you cut them a break, right?”

Hocevar made an early green-flag pit stop in the race that unfortunately sent him a lap down. That frustration made him desperately try to get around leader Heim to regain the lap that blocked his every attempt.

Eventually, when Heim headed to the pit road, Hocevar went around him and showed him the bird.

But McMurray’s point goes beyond this, where he’s addressing the general attitude Hocevar is displaying for everyone. For instance, in the Sonoma pre-race interview, Hocevar was asked if his aggressive driving style would eventually invite enemies in the garage.

“They can all stand up to the plate and bring it on. You know what I mean? And I don't know if anybody really wants to get in that war," the No. 77 responded.

Even Denny Hamlin echoed McMurray’s words a couple of weeks back, when he said Hocevar cannot help drivers to help him if he invites them to “war”.

McMurray added on the podcast that “being a good guy” helps a lot in such scenarios. The only question is whether Hocevar is willing to be that or not.

Inside Hocevar’s mindset

Earlier this month, Zane Smith and Hocevar made contact at Chicagoland, and they’re still at odds despite the NASCAR Hauler meeting about the issue. But post the meeting, Hocevar mentioned how controversy fuels racing.

“That’s what drives the sport – passion and clashing,” he said, per NASCAR.com. “It’s good.”

However, Hocevar doesn’t love doing this on purpose. At the Sonoma pre-race presser where he made the “war” comment as aforementioned, he also added that it wasn’t a taunt or a threat to anyone.

“I don't want to get in car wars. But I love racing really hard," he said.

For those who think he’s playing a character, he isn’t. "Everything about me is real... I'm not trying to play a part, try to fit a role or trying to pretend to be anybody,” he said in an interview once last year.

Written by

Suyashdeep Sason

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason