Carson Hocevar blasts Spire after expensive pit road blunder in Bristol
Carson Hocevar radioed his frustration over a costly pit stop on lap 391 that put him out of contention at Bristol Motor Speedway. Considering NASCAR raced in a short track, Hocevar quickly dropped a lap down after a good run at the front.
During the pit stop, the Spire Motorsports driver opted for a tire change. However, the jack fell off the left side of the #77 Chevrolet Camaro, preventing the pit crew from changing the tires. The team had a long 22-second stop before the driver returned to the track.
NASCAR Insider Steven Taranto caught Carson Hocevar's heated radio message after the pit road blunder, which he shared on X (formerly Twitter).
"Carson Hocevar is absolutely fuming on his radio after this and after not getting an immediate answer on if he was one or two laps down. 'Can I get some info on where the f**k I'm at?'" Taranto wrote.
Hocevar, who hasn't finished in the top 10 since the second race of the 2025 season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, seemingly told the #77 team they could've won the race.
"Hard to confirm onboard audio but 'we would've won the f**king race!' if not for something or other," the NASCAR Insider added.
After qualifying ninth, Carson Hocevar sat around the top five in the early stages of the Food City 500. He concluded stage one in fifth place before scoring more stage points with a fourth-place finish at the end of stage two.
Unfortunately, the lap 391 incident compromised his strong run in what could've been at least his second top 10 finish of the year. The sophomore driver crossed the finish line in 11th, extending his top 10 drought to seven races.
Nevertheless, Hocevar walked out of the race weekend with 39 points, advancing in the standings by five spots to 25th. He led the Spire Motorsports crew at the World's Fastest Half-Mile as Justin Haley and Michael McDowell finished 13th and 30th, respectively.
Kyle Larson won the race for his second victory of the season. He is followed by three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, and Chase Briscoe. Team Penske's Ryan Blaney completed the top five finishers' list.
"But I do know I am proud of our team": Carson Hocevar on disappointing finish at Bristol
Despite losing the chance for a potential top-10 finish on pit road, Carson Hocevar commended the #77 Spire Motorsports team for bringing a fast racecar. The 11th-place finish is his best race result in a while following a 32nd-place finish at Darlington Raceway last week.
Mixed with emotions after the 500-lap contest, the 2024 NASCAR Rookie of the Year took to X and wrote:
"Idk (I don't know) if I cry or laugh. but I do know I am proud of our speed and our team to bring that good of quality of race car."
Next on the calendar is the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, happening a week after a one-race break in the upcoming weekend. Hocevar finished 14th the last time he visited the superspeedway track as a rookie last year.