Carson Hocevar seemed unbothered that Zane Smith and his team were upset with him after Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway. Hocevar posted on Instagram after the race, and his song choice for the post was “IDGAF” by Drake, which translates to “I don’t give a f*ck.”
The post also included a picture of a ticket counter with the message to “please take a number.” Of course, Hocevar was making reference to the growing list of drivers who have a problem with him. Denny Hamlin wasn’t a fan of Hocevar’s social media behavior. He said on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast that Hocevar’s attitude will hurt him in the long run.
“It seems like Carson is definitely brushing it off to say, ‘Tough luck, buddy.’ That’s a tough way to live,” Hamlin said. “… It hurts you in the long run. If that’s the attitude you wanna have, it’s good for social media and it’s bad for on-track results. [Drivers are saying] ‘I don’t mind sticking that guy three-wide in the middle and if he’s an innocent bystander, so be it. He would do it to me, and he wouldn’t care.’”
Hocevar sent Smith spinning on Lap 229 at Iowa. Smith then appeared to take a stab at wrecking Hocevar later in the race. On pit road after the race, Smith’s crew chief Ryan Bergenty interrupted an interview Hocevar was doing to confront the driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet.
“Hey, when are you going to learn to f*cking drive, dude?” Bergenty said. “I mean you wiped us the f*ck out.”
Denny Hamlin warns Carson Hocevar about his attitude
From Hamlin’s point of view, the contact between Hocevar and Smith was accidental. He wishes Hocevar would have apologized.
“It was an accident; he got loose,” Hamlin said. “Say ‘Sorry about that. I f*cked up, I got loose. I went into the corner, I shook the right rear out and I got into you. I apologize.’ Instead of ‘Ha, take a number.’ … I don’t know where they were running at the time, but when you’re doing it for a win versus when he whacked out Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.] for 15th or 20th, that’s just not the time. … I can tell you 100 percent, without a doubt, he did not purposely hit Zane Smith. It was an accident, but I’m telling you that it’s good for clicks and bad for results.
“I think he’s out for clicks right now. That’s my opinion. I could be wrong. You’re gonna be in contention and someone is gonna clean you out and they’re gonna say, ‘I took a number.’ I just feel you’re gonna pay. You’re gonna pay at the most inopportune time when it was your day. … You can choose the path you want, but Brad Keselowski went through this, Joey Logano went through this and ask them — they would tell you right now they’ve changed because they’ve wised up to what it takes to be successful long-term in the series.”
Carson Hocevar has been here before
Hocevar has been down this road several times in his brief NASCAR career. Stenhouse was angry with him at Nashville and later Mexico City, while both Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain spoke with him at Atlanta. Hamlin is impressed with Hocevar’s ability, but there’s more to being a successful driver than making speed, he explained.
“Very impressed by the talent but is it worth all the other bullshit? … Every team owner has different motivations. You typically want someone who is capable of going fast and he checks that box, has good race craft — questionable box. There are just more elements than making speed to being a successful racecar driver,” Hamlin said. “Making speed is a small part of it. For example, look at my ranks. We’ve won more races than anyone else — I ain’t beating up on anyone in any category. So, there’s more to it than that.
“… I think he has the ability to get speed out of the car. We’ve been talking about the same thing for years about the same guy, so you almost just wanna let him do whatever he wants to do and don’t interrupt him while he’s making a mistake. Let him learn it the hard way.”
