During the TNT Sports post-race show on early Monday morning following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driver analysts Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray said Carson Hocevar’s attitude towards his peers is starting to cost him victories.
Hocevar led the final lap of the Quaker State 400 but ultimately lost when Christopher Bell pushed Ryan Blaney past Hocevar and Bubba Wallace coming to the finish line. The argument by both Cup Series veterans is that Hocevar has alienated his peers to such an extent that no one is going to help him when he needs it.
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There have been moments, like last week at Chicagoland where Zane Smith did not lift and crashed both of them, and then this weekend in Hampton, Georgia. Hocevar also needed to wave several peers by last month at Michigan in return for actions on-the-track earlier in that race.
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Speaking on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Denny Hamlin echoed what Burton and McMurray said in that Hocevar spends too much time playing to the fans instead of his peers.
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“But I mean, as a competitor, I agree a lot with how Burton and Jamie kind of broke it down,” Hamlin said. “You don’t race the fans, you race your competitors and there’s more of them than there are of you.
“And the competitors definitely play a big role in how you finish on a week-to-week basis. So I certainly think that while it may sound good in an interview, when it comes down to the end of a race, those words sometimes can hurt your finishing position.
“You can’t tell the drivers ‘if you want a war, bring it’ and then expect them to help you out on the racetrack,” Hamlin said. “And then also, I don’t know if Bell was thinking this, but pushing Blaney is the better decision for him in the standings versus pushing Hocevar too when you look at where Bell sits.”
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Blaney is third.
Hocevar is eighth.
Bell is ninth.
“Bell is always going to make whatever decision he thinks is going to give him the best finishing position,” Hamlin said. “I think there are some drivers, who in a split second off Turn 4, where you have a choice, and can read which car has the momentum that is going to allow me to get by whoever he is racing.
“But there also are drivers and there were drivers in our (Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI) meeting today that says no matter what, they will not push Carson Hocevar to a victory. Absolutely not. They’ll push anyone else. You can’t disrespect them on and off the track.”
Hamlin said every NASCAR great had at least the on-track or off-the-track respect and Hocevar has neither from his peers right now.
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