Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands on the table, tells Carson Hocevar to not change his racing style

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sees superstardom in the future for Carson Hocevar. Though the 22-year-old Hocevar has ruffled the feathers of several drivers in the garage, Earnhardt believes his aggressive driving style will lead him to success.

In fact, Dale Earnhardt Jr. went as far as to say on Tuesday’s “Dale Jr. Download” that Hocevar reminds him of the 1979 version of his dad, Dale Earnhardt Sr. He ended up a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion despite not being the most popular in the garage.

“Carson, I even said in a clip on Dirty Mo Media, I think the guy reminds me of a 1979 Dale Earnhardt. Fast, not scared to use his front bumper, don’t care if somebody gets mad about it and on the verge of becoming a star. That’s exactly how I saw dad around that timeframe in his career,” Earnhardt said. “Off the track, what they like to do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, they could be completely different people. But on the racetrack, that’s what I see out of Carson.

“And I say that to maybe encourage Carson to continue what he’s doing because Dale Earnhardt ended up becoming a seven-time champion. That aggressive style was something that endeared him to a lot of people. You can see a lot of people enjoy that as well, out of Carson.”

Earnhardt’s take is notable in that many have voiced they would like to see Hocevar ease back a bit on the racetrack. Of course, this conversation has resurfaced this week because of his on-track incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. this past Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. Hocevar got into the back of Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet on Lap 106, sending him into the outside wall. Hocevar scored a P2 finish, while Stenhouse posted a DNF and dropped five spots in the points standings.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. still hasn’t heard from Carson Hocevar, sends weekend warning

After crashing out, Stenhouse said he wanted to have a conversation with Hocevar. The Spire Motorsports driver said after the race that he would welcome a chat with Stenhouse. To this point, Stenhouse has not received a call from Hocevar, he said on Tuesday’s “Motor Stardom Show.”

“I’ve been in this sport a long time and if you make a mistake like that, you generally pick up the phone as quick as you can, especially if you feel bad about it. If you don’t, you just roll on with it. No, I’ve not gotten a call from him,” Stenhouse said. “I’ve talked to his owner. Jeff Dickerson and I are super tight. I haven’t gotten a call from him, so to my point, he doesn’t really care about it, which is fine.”

Stenhouse has given Hocevar the weekend to reach out. If Hocevar doesn’t, Stenhouse is going to find him this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

“This is the ground he wants to stand on, that’s completely fine, but definitely something I won’t forget,” Stenhouse said. “If I don’t hear from him by the weekend, I’ll probably confront him, and we’ll figure it out.”