Carson Hocevar earns NASCAR insider’s praise for one reason at the New Hampshire race

Tommy Baldwin lauded Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 car, for staying out of any on-track drama at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 21. His comments surfaced in the latest episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast featuring Freddie Kraft, Karsyn Elledge, and Baldwin himself.

Hocevar is in his just sophomore season driving for Spire Motorsports. However, he has already picked fights with many of his fellow racers, including Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, and, most recently, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

But none of that sort happened during Sunday’s playoff race. Blaney won the event, marking his third win of the 2025 season. Baldwin appreciated how Hocevar finished eleventh without ending anyone else’s day.

“I'm gonna hate saying this, but kudos to the 77 yesterday,” Baldwin said (26:30). “I hate I'm saying this, but I watched...I had, you know, where we were pitted, did a good job. He didn't run into anybody. He had a clean day. He ran in the top 10 all day because he didn't run into anybody and hurt his car.”

Baldwin then added, pointing to his head:

“It's just...the kid gets... he short circuits there, but he didn't yesterday."

Carson Hocevar didn’t make the playoffs this year. But he can still record his first career win in the NASCAR Cup Series. He is currently ranked 21st with eight top-10s, a pair of top-fives, and 616 points to his name.

Next up for the Portage, Michigan native is the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN Bet at Kansas Speedway. The race will be held on Sunday, September 28, and televised on USA (3 p.m. ET onwards) with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

When Carson Hocevar got fined for calling Mexico City a “sh**hole”

It all happened during NASCAR’s debut visit to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. A points race was held there back in June, marking the NASCAR Cup Series’ first time racing internationally in 25 years. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar came under fire for his comments about the city during a livestream.

Hocevar had called Mexico a “sh**hole” during the stream, which led his own team to take action against him. Spire Motorsports handed him a $50,000 fine, which was later donated to local non-profit organizations.

“The issue wasn't for the team having their kind of frustrations, not that I'm giving my opinion and putting it out there,” Carson Hocevar said in a statement. “It's just the fact that, you know, my opinion wasn't my opinion. It was just based off everybody else, you know, that I've heard or seen, right? I didn't go do my own homework and voice my own opinion.”

Shane van Gisbergen won the race, marking his fourth win of the season. He made the playoffs but got eliminated in the first round. For now, all eyes are on Kansas Speedway for next week’s race.