Kevin Harvick warns NASCAR drivers despite Carson Hocevar lack of respect in garage

Carson Hocevar continues to make a ton of noise on the racetrack. After his latest on-track incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. during Sunday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway, FOX Sports analyst Kevin Harvick questions Hocevar’s place within the garage.

“I don’t think he has the respect of the garage right now, personally,” Harvick said on Tuesday’s Happy Hour podcast.

Hocevar has ruffled the feathers of several drivers in the garage throughout his brief NASCAR tenure. Sunday, it was Stenhouse who took issue with Hocevar. Stenhouse went for a spin through Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 106 in Stage 2. Hocevar, riding behind Stenhouse in the corner, clearly got in the back of Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet. 

The interesting part of this is that Hocevar, to this point, has avoided extreme trouble coming back his way. On top of that, he’s fast. He finished P2 at Nashville, his second runner-up finish of the season. The more Hocevar runs with the Cup Series’ best, the more he’s going to continue ruffling feathers, Harvick said.

“They’re going to like him less because he’s faster than them and that sometimes in itself without running over people, pisses people off because he’s going to take someone’s spot. He’s not going anywhere because he’s going faster than they are,” Harvick said. “His ability to drive the car fast and apparently, relate that to his team guys, is making those cars faster. Having that cornerstone in a company is important, but companies also look for the fastest guys.

“The fastest guys will learn how to manage all that stuff. Now, the competitors will stir it all up and say he’s a hack or whatever it is, but in the end, he’s faster than most of you.”

Kevin Harvick reacts to Carson Hocevar controversy at Nashville, future payback

This is hardly the first time Hocevar has been involved in conflict with another driver. He’s not the first driver to go through this. But Harvick is blown away by Hocevar’s ability to block out the noise and keep pushing.

“Here’s the thing about Carson: Carson’s fast and is, to me, he’s able to keep making these mistakes and not let it mentally bother him. Not all people are like that way. When Ross Chastain — we saw everything that happened with Rick Hendrick — it slowed him down for a while,” Harvick said. “It has not slowed down Hocevar up until this point. And he’s got the speed to be able to back up what he does on the racetrack, and he’s got the speed to overcome these types of scenarios.

“But he’s got the mental ability to just let it go. It didn’t bother him the rest of the race. It isn’t the first time that this has happened this year or last year and it is going to ruffle some feathers along the way.”