HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Carson Hocevar's aggressiveness on the race track has played a significant role in his meteoric rise in popularity since moving to the Cup Series in 2024.
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He has built up a massive fanbase while showcasing a devil-may-care attitude behind the wheel and then spending extensive time signing autographs after the race.
He has ranked third in trackside driver merchandise sales this year and first in NASCAR's online shop driver merchandise sales. He has become someone who NASCAR can use to advertise races.
So how does he keep this part of his personality while avoiding crossing the line and earning another suspension? How does he avoid becoming tame?
"Yeah, I think it's very simple — they put it in the highlight and commercial reels with the front bumper," Hocevar said in response to FanBuzz on Friday.
"They're not going to put it with the rear bumper. And badasses, you know, make moves going forward, not backwards."
A reserved Hocevar made these comments to the media members at Homestead-Miami Speedway while serving a Spire Motorsports-mandated suspension.
The team sidelined him for repeatedly brake-checking Austin Cindric at Martinsville Speedway and causing race-ending damage to the No. 2 Team Penske Ford.
NASCAR also penalized Hocevar by fining him $100,000 and taking away 25 driver points.
"I do believe that long term, this is gonna be something good for Carson, and I like Carson a lot," teammate Daniel Suarez told media members. "He's a great driver. He's actually a good person, you know.
"Sometimes I feel like he comes across to media and some people one way, but sometimes he's a little bit different. So he's still very young. He still has to learn a lot to learn, and I hope that he learns from this, and he comes comes back better."
Hocever declined multiple opportunities on Friday to explain why he ruined Cindric's day while saying that "it doesn't matter." But he acknowledged that he knew before hitting the brake pedal that he risked penalties from multiple authority figures.
Days later, Hocevar says that he can't defend his actions at Martinsville Speedway. He can just move forward.
"I think it's important, you know, for everybody included that it's defendable when it's racing, and that wasn't really racing," Hocevar said. "Or it's not really... it's just not really like a defense for it.
"So, yeah, I think ultimately the line in the sand for all of us is just let's just keep racing, racing."
And while Hocevar has issued a public apology on his YouTube channel and served his suspension, that doesn't mean that the situation will be behind him. He hasn't spoken to Cindric, and he doesn't know if or when this conversation will happen.
He also knows that he will continue to have a reputation. People will view him as someone who makes aggressive moves on the track and they will think that he cares more about his "brand" than actually winning races.
He can't change their opinions, but he will certainly try to set the record straight.
"I think it's important to know that, like, you know, when I'm in the car, I am 100% trying to improve our position, whether it's smart or right or not," Hocevar said. "I'm trying to get one more spot at a time.
"I am not thinking about, 'Man, I'm going to sell a lot of T-shirts by making this move.' When I get out of the car, I might go, 'Okay, we could sell some T-shirts.' It is not at all the same in the car versus out of the car."
