Fire on Fridays: Why No Suspension for Carson Hocevar?

NASCAR docked Carson Hocevar 25 points this week and fined him $50,000 for appearing to intentionally spin Harrison Burton under caution at Nashville Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“I don’t know, he blocks everyone every week,” Burton told Frontstretch. “I blocked him once and he decided to try and wreck me under yellow.”

The penalty is the same points-wise as what Austin Hill received after he spun Cole Custer under caution at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The fine is just a bit higher, as Hill was fined $25,000.

In a vacuum, you look at these two incidents and it makes sense that the penalties are similar. But if both drivers’ past records are taken into consideration, Hocevar’s penalty should’ve been way more severe than Hill’s.

Sure, Hill is known as an ultra-aggressive driver who has made a lot of enemies on the racetrack. But I’ve never seen him intentionally wreck someone before. So his penalty for wrecking Custer was fair.

Hocevar, on the other hand, has a rap sheet of prior times when he wrecked someone intentionally. Let’s take a look at a few of those.

The first such incident was as Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022 when Hocevar turned Tate Fogleman in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It’s hard to tell what exactly happened, but it sure did look intentional.

The next incident that comes to mind was in the Truck race at Richmond Raceway in 2022. Hocevar was about to get lapped and got into Nick Leitz, sending him spinning into the wall.

Some thought Hocevar did so intentionally, but Leitz told Frontstretch he thought he might’ve chopped down on the No. 42 truck.

Probably the most egregious moment was when Hocevar right-hooked Colby Howard at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2022. He wasn’t suspended for that when Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott have both been suspended for similar incidents in recent years.

Can’t forget this pic.twitter.com/ODUcW7sfgJ

— B R A D E N (@TheBraden_) July 2, 2024

At Martinsville Speedway last spring, Hocevar had a tire going down and tried to right-hook Taylor Gray, but he was unsuccessful. NASCAR parked his No. 42 truck for two laps that race as a result.

Some hold last fall at Phoenix Raceway against Hocevar, when he got into Corey Heim, who he was racing for the championship. I chalk that one up to hard racing, though.

Throughout his Truck career, there were a handful of times when Hocevar needed a caution and appeared to intentionally spin himself out. While that’s not the same at all as intentionally wrecking someone, it is something NASCAR should’ve kept in mind when assessing this latest penalty.

Many hoped the shenanigans would end once Hocevar entered the NASCAR Cup Series, but instead they continued. Last fall at Martinsville, Hocevar appeared to move up the racetrack and send Ty Gibbs spinning into the outside wall.

At both Bristol Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway this year, Hocevar had a tire go down and rode around at a slow pace instead of pitting to try to bring out a caution. He was not successful at Bristol but did bring out a caution at New Hampshire.

And finally, we have what happened last weekend: Hocevar got into Burton under caution, who then brake-checked the No. 77 and then got sent for a ride.

Add up all of these incidents over the past three seasons and it becomes clear that Hocevar needed a stiffer penalty this week. Parking him for a few laps or fining him points and money hasn’t seemed to get anywhere. He needed a one-race suspension for the point to really land.

Instead, a similar situation may occur again in the near future. And when, not if, Hocevar does appear to intentionally wreck someone again, NASCAR better factor all these prior instances before it deals out a penalty, else I fear the lesson still won’t be learned.

Even without all of the priors, the penalties for intentionally wrecking other cars need to be stiffer. These slap-on-the-wrist penalties feel more like an encouragement to do it more as opposed to a dissuasion.