Ricky Stenhouse Jr. On His Feud With Carson Hocevar: “Don’t Want A Rivalry For Running 15th”

NASCAR’s newest rivalry might be over before it even heated up.

This past weekend during the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had some harsh words for Carson Hocevar after a wreck put Stenhouse and his #47 Hyak Motorsports car in the garage.

On lap 106, Stenhouse Jr. entered turn 3 on the outside of Carson Hocevar in the #77 car. Hocevar looked to get a run down the backstretch and jumped to the inside of Stenhouse entering the corner to try to make the pass, but Stenhouse was apparently expecting Hocevar to back off and came down on his right front, sending the #47 into the wall and ruining his day.

After the race, Stenhouse had harsh words for Hocevar, who has already come under fire for his aggressive driving and involvement in incidents this season:

“I think it’s definitely overaggressive. I think that’s Carson. Maybe I should have just hung a right, let him go. I’m not sure. If he would have got to my inside, I would have let him go. But just to keep dive-bombing me, you can’t just give up spots just to give up spots. So I felt like it was definitely overaggressive.”

He also joked that he wouldn’t talk it over with Hocevar in the garage area because it would be “too expensive,” referring to a fine from NASCAR for fighting:

Honestly, I didn’t really see what the big deal was. It looked like Hocevar had the line and had the run, and Stenhouse came down on him while he was inside. And I get that Hocevar could have backed off, not been so aggressive and pushed the issue, but at the same time…it’s racing. Sure it was early in the race, but why should drivers be expected to cut their competitors a break?

For his part, Hocevar acknowledges that he could have cut Stenhouse a break:

“But at the same time maybe I could have gotten cut a break too with how big of a run I had. So I think it goes both ways or it could go both ways, and maybe that’s what we talk about.”

Anyway, things escalated earlier this week when Stenhouse revealed that he had yet to hear from Hocevar, and hinted that he may to handle things at Michigan this weekend:

“I haven’t gotten a call from him, so, to my point, he doesn’t really care about it. Which, you know, is fine. If that’s the ground he wants to stand on, that’s completely fine, but it definitely will be something I won’t forget. You know, if I don’t hear from him by the weekend, I’ll probably confront him, and we’ll figure it out.”

But apparently things cooled off after Hocevar and Stenhouse were able to connect and share their sides of the incident.

According to Stenhouse, he understands what Hocevar was thinking when he made the move:

“It’s part of racing… I think after Carson called me this week, I definitely see where he was thinking that he could get to the inside of me before we turned down into the corner. Problem was he didn’t. He said he had committed to thinking he was going to, and unfortunately just misjudged it and ran right into the back of us.

Carson and I hadn’t had any issues before, so I appreciate him reaching out and explaining what his thought process was in it. Doesn’t change that our NOS Energy Drink Camaro was in the garage at the end of the race, which was unfortunate. We were on a pretty solid roll of just getting solid finishes and keeping ourselves in the points.”

And it doesn’t sound like he’s interested in any sort of rivalry with the young driver:

“Kinda like I told Carson, I don’t mind a good rivalry, but I don’t want a rivalry for running 15th. If we’re battling for wins and battling in the top 5 week in and week out, that’s great. But having a rivalry not competing for wins is kind of difficult.”

Of course Stenhouse has had his fair share of rivalries in the past. Most notably there was his post-race scrap after last year’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, when he was waiting for Kyle Busch in the garage area following an incident on the track.

And Stenhouse is also well-known for his incidents on the track too. (I mean, there’s a reason his nickname is “Wrecky Spinhouse”).

It seems to me like the whole thing was just a racing incident, maybe Carson getting a little overaggressive while Stenhouse expected him to cut him a break.

But regardless, I’ve become a big fan of Hocevar lately. He’s a great personality in a sport that sorely needs more personality from its drivers, and I love seeing aggressive driving on the track.

He’s also having a great season, having been in position to win at least two races already after finishing second at Nashville.

I just hope that the incident with Stenhouse doesn’t scare Hocevar off from that aggressive driving style that’s winning him fans (and good runs on the track) in the first place.The post Ricky Stenhouse Jr. On His Feud With Carson Hocevar: “Don’t Want A Rivalry For Running 15th” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.