Payback coming? How a 22-year-old Michigander has polarized NASCAR

BROOKLYN, MI – The big question of the weekend at Michigan International Speedway: Will Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crash Portage native Carson Hocevar, as payback for last week’s incident?

Hocevar ran into Stenhouse at Nashville Superspeedway, sending him into the wall.

Hocevar went on to finish second – tied for a career best. Stenhouse finished last.

“Ricky Stenhouse will absolutely wreck Carson Hocevar sometime in the near future,” fellow competitor Denny Hamlin said this week on his podcast. “He ain’t going to punch him in the face. But he will absolutely wreck him. If you’re Carson, just know that it’s coming. So don’t be surprised.”

Stenhouse has a reputation for payback. After getting knocked out of the All-Star Race in 2024, he punched Kyle Busch in the pits.

But he was fined $75,000.

When asked last Sunday if he would confront Hocevar after the race, Stenhouse said “that costs too much money.”

Hocevar called Stenhouse on Wednesday – not necessarily to apologize, but address the situation. Hocevar called it “productive.”

Hocevar said he doesn’t expect payback in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at MIS.

Carson Hocevar talks with reporters before the Craftsman Truck Series DQS Solutions and Staffing 250 Powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Saturday, June 7, 2025. Hocevar is competing in both the truck and NASCAR cup race.Ayrton Breckenridge | MLive.com

Does Hocevar have a reputation?

The Nashville incident marks Stenhouse’s first beef with Hocevar. But he’s quick to note there’s a list of drivers upset with Hocevar’s aggressive racing style.

“The amount of texts I got from competitors and other people in the garage to confront him like I did Kyle (Busch) or crash him on purpose was a lot,” Stenhouse said. “It was kind of shocking. So I just told him that.

“With all the texts I got this week, I would say yeah, he’s got a reputation.”

Stenhouse doesn’t believe Hocevar crashed him on purpose – but was just too impatient.

Ryan Blaney was among the drivers upset with Hocevar earlier in the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A bump from Hocevar sent him spinning.

“He’s just a moron,” Blaney said at the time, over the radio.

Hocevar is fast – and shouldn’t change who he is – Blaney said. However, “when guys keep spinning off the front of your bumper, that becomes an issue.”

Hamlin has already put out a warning to Hocevar.

“Carson hasn’t done anything to me yet that has been egregious,” Hamlin said. “But I guarantee you … if he does, I’m going to get him.”

Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, signs an autograph for Braxton Loustus, 7, during the pre-race ceremony during the NASCAR FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024.Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com

A season of highs and lows

Hocevar – the youngest full-time Cup driver in the field – has made plenty of headlines in 2025.

For both good and bad reasons.

On the positive side: Hocevar finished second twice, earned his first career pole position, won the All-Star open race to advance to the All-Star Race and won a Truck Series race in May.

He also won the Money in the Bank 150 super late model race at West Michigan’s Berlin Raceway earlier this week.

On the controversial side: He hung his middle finger out the window while taking the checkered flag in that Truck win, he made so many enemies at Atlanta that drivers lined up to express their beef and now the Stenhouse incident.

The 22-year-old likes the attention.

“It’s cool to just be talked about. You want to be talked about maybe in a different light. But at least they’re talking, right?” Hocevar said. “Ultimately, it’s fun to be in the news. It’s what I’ve dreamt of my whole life, just at least being the topic of conversation.”

Fans either love him or hate him.

“We’re all Hocevar fans now,” said Robert Caswell, from atop a Busch Light-branded school bus in the MIS infield. “(Last week?) “Yeah, that was awesome. We were rooting for him the whole time.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to his defense this week, too.

“People are probably going to go crazy over this one, but Hocevar a little bit is kind of like a young Dale Earnhardt, in a way,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Makes a lot of mistakes, ruffles a lot of feathers. But he’s very fast, very aggressive.”

MORE: Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Michigan’s Carson Hocevar reminds me of ‘a 1979 Dale Earnhardt’

Steve Letarte, who will share the Prime Video broadcast booth with Earnhardt Jr. at MIS on Sunday, doesn’t love some of Hocevar’s mistakes. But the retired crew chief said Hocevar “can do great things” in the sport.

“Look, he’s a polarizing figure,” Letarte said. “It starts with (being) fast. We can focus on the negatives, we can focus on the mistakes. I think a lot of that comes with youth.

“Sports stars are what makes sports go around. And he is emerging as a star.”

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