“It's what I've dreamt of my whole life”: Carson Hocevar embraces being NASCAR’s hot topic a week after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fiasco 

As the NASCAR Cup Series moves to Michigan International Speedway for the 15th race of the season, Carson Hocevar is still the hot topic among fans and media. The 22-year-old Spire Motorsports driver, whose aggressive driving ended Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s race early last week at Nashville, seems to be enjoying the attention.

During a press conference at his hometrack on Saturday, the Portage, Michigan native commented on the media buzz surrounding him.

"It's cool to just be talked about. Obviously, you want to be talked about maybe in a different light, but at least they're talking. ...Ultimately, it's fun to be in the news. It's what I've dreamt of my whole life, being a topic of conversation," Carson Hocevar said (via Jeff Gluck).

Hocevar is 17th in the points standings ahead of this Sunday's race at the 2-mile oval. The 200-lap FireKeepers Casino 400 will be Hocevar's second Cup start after a 10th-place finish last year.

The qualifying for the race is scheduled for 9:40 am CT on Saturday and the race is expected to begin at 2 pm on Sunday.

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"I thought it was productive": Carson Hocevar on conversation with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Carson Hocevar also shared his side of the talk with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and called it productive.

"Me and him have, you know, both have the reputation, I guess, of both being aggressive at times and everything. So, we just at one point we both reminded each other that even with those reputations, obviously, we’ve raced each other very well together, right? It clashes together," Carson Hocevar said (via NASCAR).

"Yeah, we've had no issues before, as he had said, and I feel like we’ve had, you know, a decent relationship leading up to this. I thought it was productive and based off his comments, I felt like it was received productive," he added.

Last Sunday (June 1) at Nashville Superspeedway, Hocevar's No. 77 car made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 47 Chevy during Stage 2, which sent the latter to the wall and out of the race. While Hocevar went on to finish second, Stenhouse Jr. suffered his first DNF of the season and dropped to 18th from 13th in the Cup Series points standings.

Stenhouse Jr. initially hinted at a payback for the incident but after receiving a call from Hocevar, he said he understood that Hocevar misjudged the move and hit him, during an episode of the SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Friday, June 6. The Hyak Motorsports driver also mentioned that he appreciated the call and acknowledged they hadn’t had problems before.