Spire Motorsports owner comments on Carson Hocevar’s on-track actions

Following an infamous on-track incident at Nashville Superspeedway, Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson backed Carson Hocevar. Dickerson said that while the team wants Hocevar to be more mature, they don't want to slow the driver down.

During the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville, Hocevar, driving the #77 Chevrolet Camaro, closed the bottom lane on Ricky Stenhouse Jr., resulting in a contact off turn three on lap 106. Stenhouse Jr. spun into the wall and sustained damage, which meant the end of his day.

Carson Hocevar went on to cross the finish line in second after starting from 26th place. It marked his second top five following a second-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in a thrilling last-lap showdown against Kyle Larson and race winner Christopher Bell.

Speaking about Hocevar's on-track actions, Jeff Dickerson said that he is happy with how the driver is progressing "behind the wheel."

“Behind the wheel, he's doing everything that we've asked of him. Again, I just want to point out that with the amount of experience he has, and with the journey of our race team, Spire, I don't want to slow him down,” said Dickerson [at the start of the video]

Dickerson touched on the lap 106 incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., saying Hocevar could've shown maturity and let the #47 HYAK Motorsports driver make the turn.

“Why go out of your way to make an enemy that you don't need to? Because I think Ricky has always run him fair, and it hurt me because Ricky's a good friend,” he said. [1:07]

Regardless, the Spire Motorsports co-owner believes his sophomore driver will gain more experience in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“Walking that fine line is kind of where we're at on our journey. But man, I don't want to slow him down. We're trying to make the playoffs and win races now. So we just got to work a couple things out,” he concluded [1:46 onwards]

While Carson Hocevar finished second, Ryan Blaney took the checkered flag ahead of him by 2.83 seconds. Denny Hamlin came home third, followed by Joey Logano and William Byron, respectively.

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“I felt like a very smart Cup driver”: Carson Hocevar reflects on second-place finish at Nashville

In a post-race interview, Carson Hocevar shared his thoughts on his performance at Nashville Superspeedway. The 22-year-old felt like a “very smart” Cup driver for passing cars throughout the 300-lap oval race from a 26th-place starting position.

“I felt like a very smart Cup driver for almost every lap. It wasn't raw speed, unbelievable like Charlotte where it was just almost too easy to pass, where it was just really, really good,” said the #77 Spire Motorsports driver said (via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) [0:01]

Carson Hocevar earned 39 points at Nashville to improve his ranking to 17th in the points standings. The Michigan native has amassed two top-5 and three top-10 finishes. He also secured one pole position at Texas Motor Speedway. However, his early 2025 campaign is hampered by four DNFs.

The 2024 Rookie of the Year will be back in action in his home state at Michigan International Speedway. The Firekeepers Casino 400 will happen on June 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video. It will mark the media company's third of five NASCAR Cup Series race coverage this year.