NASCAR insider pinpoints Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s ‘smart move’ during his fiery feud with Carson Hocevar

NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck praised Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for not getting into a physical altercation with Carson Hocevar during their public feud at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. He pointed out how it was a 'smart move' to avoid getting arrested in Mexico under unfamiliar local laws.

During the end stages of the Viva Mexico 250, Stenhouse fell victim to yet another spin caused by Hocevar, marking the second such incident between the two in just three races. The repeat contact left Stenhouse furious, leading to a confrontation post-race where he threatened to beat up Hocevar when they returned to the States.

The heated exchange was picked up by Hocevar's in-car camera and quickly made headlines across the sport, as many now expect Hocevar to face the same fate as Kyle Busch during his infamous brawl with Stenhouse.

Reflecting upon the same, Gluck commended Stenhouse Jr. for not getting into a fight yet.

"Smart move by the way. Do not get yourself arrested in Mexico and find yourself in a Mexican prison while everybody else in the industry leaves for assaulting somebody, you don't know the laws here," he said via Youtube/The Teardown. [57:05 onwards]

Gluck further explained how Stenhouse 'backed off' after his previous incident with Hocevar at Nashville Superspeedway, but was now forced to retaliate after the repeat offence.

"In Ricky's mind he's going to say "Well now if I don't follow through, I said, "Okay I'll listen to this and it doesn't do us any good but if you do it again", now he did it again and now he's been captured on audio. And Carson's like, yeah I screwed up but it doesn't matter at this point," he added.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. told the press over the Michigan weekend that he had absolved Hocevar of the Nashville incident after a one-on-on with the Spire Motorsports driver. However, the turn of events at Mexico seemed to reinstate bad blood between the two, leaving fans anticipating their next encounter at Pocono Raceway.

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"I know he was very mad": Carson Hocevar addressed his post-race conversation with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Carson Hocevar shared an inside look of his fiery post-race conversation with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Mexico. The No.77 Chevy driver was yet to climb out of his car when Stenhouse leaned into his cockpit to exchange words.

Speaking to NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass, Hocevar reflected on Stenhouse's meltdown and said,

"I know he was very mad and I was very apologetic. I just got left and in the marbles and slid a lot longer than I expected. So yeah, I mean obviously number one, not somebody I would ever want to hit again."

Hocevar called it a 'sloppy' day for him, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped a spot on the driver's standings following the incident. The Hyak Motorsports driver currently sits 21st with 312 points, just a point behind Hocevar.