As the Chase for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship begins, Carson Hocevar is, once again, dominating the headlines, but it’s not because of a strong performance on the racetrack, but instead because of another run-in.
The driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet had an early-race run-in with 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington, after driving deep into Turn 3 and spinning the No. 6 Ford Mustang Dark Horse at the exit of Turn 4 – damaging the underbody of the RFK Racing entry.
Keselowski delivered some strong words to Hocevar after the race was complete, warning the 23-year-old Michigander that “[his] time is coming, and it’s coming hard.”
From the moment he burst onto the scene in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Hocevar has been entangled in several different controversies on the racetrack, which, in the last half-decade, have led to tens (if not hundreds) of think pieces, podcast discussions, and social media rants.
Throughout the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, as Hocevar’s persona has seemingly skyrocketed to unprecedented levels of fame and recognition, that has only multiplied, and Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin (a popular Dirty Mo Media podcast) has been a common place for that discussion to take place.
But after this latest run-in, Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE and co-owner of NASCAR Cup Series team 23XI Racing, says he’s done talking about Carson Hocevar.
“You’re not going to get any more from me because I’m not going to give him what he wants,” Hamlin said in a September 7 episode of Actions Detrimental. “I’m not going to give him the clip that he wants.”
Hamlin had absolutely no problem chiming in about Spire Motorsports – the organization responsible for fielding the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro that Hocevar pilots full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series – and didn’t hesitate to put the team on blast.
“There are no adults in the room, clearly, in that building. No adults,” Hamlin said. “That’s my opinion, because how can you honestly think that’s what’s best for your company? If you’re running a serious organization.”
“I think they’re unserious.”
Spire Motorsports has been on the brain for Hamlin, these last couple of weeks.
Two weeks ago, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Michael McDowell and 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst got into a scuffle on-track that resulted in the No. 35 Toyota Camry XSE crashing extremely hard into the Turn 3 SAFER Barrier. Herbst was diagnosed with a concussion the following week and was sidelined for Daytona.
Then, in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Darlington, McDowell and Hamlin were battling for position on the racetrack when contact from the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro sent Hamlin into the outside wall, caused damage to his No. 11 and effectively ended his shot at a good finish, and cost him several points.
Could these comments be purely out of frustration for Hamlin? Sure, but it hasn’t been unusual for the Chesterfield, Virginia-native to take a tough stance on Hocevar’s previous transgressions, having run-ins with Zane Smith, 23XI Racing development driver Corey Heim, and now Brad Keselowski.
