Second-year NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar picked up the best finish of his budding career on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hocevar, who drives the small Spire Motorsports team, finished second and very nearly passed eventual winner Christopher Bell on the final lap for the victory.
But Hocevar also angered a number of his fellow drivers along the way, including multiple series champions. It started when he cut off two-time series champion Kyle Busch in the opening stage of the race, leading Busch to go on a vulgar radio tirade. After the race, Busch explained why he was upset. Later on, Hocevar accidentally spun Team Penske star Ryan Blaney when he ran into him entering a corner. Blaney quickly came over the radio and called him a "moron" as well as some other choice words.
After the race, Hocevar spoke with Blaney as well as fellow driver Ross Chastain,who has served as a mentor to him in the past. The 22-year-old acknowledged he made some mistakes, but he wasn't apologetic about his aggressive driving.
"I finished second. We're here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other and play on the playground together," Hocevar said.
Asked what Chastain and Blaney told him, Hocevar said "Uhh, they just wanted to know the new triple-dipper menu at Chili's, so we're gonna meet up there later and discuss."
Chili's (which is the super fast-casual restaurant in the USA) serves as a primary sponsor for Hocevar and Spire. He then continued the joke by trolling Blaney and Busch, posting a picture of himself with a Chili's bag about the board a jet to fly home after the race.
Ultimately, Hocevar is immensely talented. He's shown speed at several different levels of the NASCAR ladder. But it's hard to succeed in NASCAR if you gain the respect of your peers. And Hocevar has a lot of work to do in that category.