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Dale Earnhardt Jr. assigns blame to Carson Hocevar for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spin at Nashville

Nick Profile Picby: Nick Geddes06/02/25NickGeddesNews
Carson Hocevar
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Carson Hocevar doesn’t have too many friends on the racetrack. He’s likely lost another after Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went for a spin through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 106 in Stage 2. Hocevar, riding behind Stenhouse in the corner, made contact with Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet. Stenhouse lost control and hit the outside wall. It’s yet another questionable move from Hocevar on the racetrack, one his competitors would like to see him clean up, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the Prime Video broadcast.

“He might see Stenhouse after this one is over with,” Earnhardt said. “… The tough part about this, man… Hocevar drives up down in the corner and there was a moment where Hocevar definitely had an opportunity to not do that. That’s the kind of things that his competitors want him to clean up. Hocevar thinks, in his mind, ‘It’s short track racing. That’s my spot. I’m gonna go down there and move you out of the way.’ But his competitors don’t see it that way.”

Carson Hocevar involved in another on-track incident

Hocevar, 22, is uber talented. His No. 77 Chevrolet has speed and he’s proven to be able to hang with NASCAR‘s best. Whether his fault or not, he seems to always find himself in conflict. Veterans such as Kyle Busch have asked him to calm down and now, it might be Stenhouse’s turn to have that conversation with him.

Like Earnhardt, Steve Letarte called out Hocevar on the broadcast. He said that if Hocevar wants respect on the racetrack, he needs to show it in moments like this one.

“I like the aggression but this, this is one I would hope Carson wants back,” Letarte said. “Know it’s happening in a blink and he’s a 22-year-old race car driver, but these are the coin flips Carson has to give to Ricky Stenhouse if he wants to get raced with respect when it’s his time. I like aggression, I like hard racing, but this is the one where a little discretion would have gone a long way. Why? Because for the 47, this is a huge moment for them.”