Carson Hocevar takes blame, apologized to Ryan Preece for Texas wreck

In his first start from the pole, Carson Hocevar had a very up-and-down day on the track. That included a wreck with Ryan Preece. One of the favorites to blame in the NASCAR Cup Series now, Hocevar, had to own up to a mistake this evening.

Ryan Preece was not happy with Carson Hocevar after being wrecked out of the Texas race. He called him out in his comments after leaving the infield care center.

After the race, Hocevar spoke to the media. He was asked about the wreck.

“I apologized to him and his guy, same with my guys, right?” Hocevar said to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Just got in there and started to slide up, and he got to the right rear, and I was already crossing somebody’s wake and got tight from him on my door and the car in front.

“I mean I’m out of the gas and have wheel, and I just didn’t predict to be in that spot, to panic, or to have to change directions, you have to predict it, and I didn’t, I just didn’t predict he would get there if I’m being honest. That’s on me, I wrecked myself, right?”

I mean, what more can he say in this situation? The wreck happened, and he has to live with the consequences of that, as far as how Ryan Preece and other drivers treat him now.

A couple of years ago, it was all about Ross Chastain. Now, Carson Hocevar is the new driver everyone points at when things go wrong. In this case, Preece has a right to be upset, but it’s just the usual cycle of a young driver making young driver mistakes and being called out.

Carson Hocevar was trending in the right direction

Another disappointing finish today. Carson Hocevar has had five finishes of P30 or worse this season and six finishes of P24 or worse. Today, he was P24 coming off of a top-10 at Talladega.

Hocevar is showing speed. He won the pole for the race earlier in the weekend. That has to count for something. We know his raw speed is excellent. He still has to work on his overall race craft and awareness in the Cup car, though.

He has to start getting better finishes. Hocevar only has two top-10s on the year. Honestly, he’s underperformed. I still think he has a chance to really improve this season. The pole award surprised me a lot since it happened at Texas and not a superspeedway.

Carson Hocevar will be fine. But if he wants to salvage this season, he has to start getting better finishes. Little and big mistakes are holding him back from getting the finishes he deserves.