Carson Hocevar responds to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. issuing warning after Nashville controversy

It’s been three days since Carson Hocevar sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into the outside wall at Nashville Superspeedway. Hocevar finished second; Ryan Blaney won the race. But the topic of conversation coming out of this weekend has been focused on Hocevar and Stenhouse’s on-track incident.

After crashing out of this past Sunday’s race on Lap 106, Stenhouse said he wanted to have a conversation with Hocevar. Stenhouse revealed on Tuesday’s “Motor Stardom Show” that he had yet to receive a call from Hocevar. If Hocevar didn’t reach out by the end of the week, Stenhouse said he would find and “confront him” at Michigan International Speedway.

Hocevar appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday and addressed Stenhouse’s warning. The Spire Motorsports driver revealed he did text with Stenhouse and knows there’s more to be said.

“We texted a little bit back and forth and I think we’ll still talk,” Hocevar told Danielle Trotta and Larry McReynolds. “You see each other 38 weekends a year. Eventually, you’re going to run into each other. Not literally, hopefully, but run into each other in person. I think it’s better if you’re going to have that talk or conversation, to do it before you get to the track and everyone gets into race mode. Yeah, he wanted to have that conversation, so I just texted him to reach out or whatever. We’ll probably have that talk and see where it goes.”

Hocevar, 22, has a reputation around the garage for being aggressive — sometimes, in his competitors’ minds, overaggressive. Stenhouse clearly felt Hocevar crossed the line at Nashville. Not to mention, Stenhouse entered the race 13th in the points standings. He had been doing a phenomenal job at a single-car team. Now, he’s 18th. Just like that, below the playoff cutline.

Carson Hocevar explains what happened with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Nashville

Hocevar said he never wanted to wreck Stenhouse. He understands his reputation and he doesn’t want to put a bigger target on his back.

“I know my intentions and what I thought was gonna happen. Ultimately, you don’t want to wreck anybody’s race car. You don’t want to wreck anybody,” Carson Hocevar said. “[Spire co-owner] Jeff Dickerson tells me all the time that if you’re explaining, you’re losing. With us talking about this, instead of talking about how we can get ourselves one spot better, we’re talking about this. I didn’t want to wreck him. I went in and I thought I could get there and get a little more space. For his arc, I thought he was gonna go run the middle with the 54 [Ty Gibbs] running the bottom and thought I could get in a little deeper and have his spotter call inside and he just came all the way down and I landed into his left rear. Backed him into the fence. I don’t wanna do that and I feel bad for it, obviously, for wrecking somebody’s race car.

“I think the biggest thing is the story we want is the fact we ran second with the 77 car. Don’t think anyone remembers Ryan Blaney won the race because all they’re talking about is this so far. I think that’s the biggest thing is we don’t want to slow ourselves down by having these clouds over our heads just as a team or put any more targets on my back. I’ve created the world I live in of that reputation; I understand that. You don’t want to do anything more to put a bigger target on your back.”