Jaime McMurray Questions Carson Hocevar’s “Racing IQ”

Carson Hocevar made the news for all the wrong reason after the Darlington Cup race. His no cholent act after wrecking Brad Keselowski attracted criticism from the majority of the NASCAR community. Ex-racer turned broadcaster Jaime McMurray is the latest elite figure to call out the young racer.

The Cup legend highlighted how the No:77 Chevy driver is among some of the fastest racers in the garage. According to McMurray the young Chevy driver is on the same level in terms of speed as Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. He also has a similar level of race craft as the championship winning veteran duo.

He’s very fast. I would put Blaney and Larson in those same categories; like, whatever you put them in, they seem to have speed. The second thing is you have to have racecraft. And when you talk about guys that can pass Blaney, Larson, those two guys, they seem to figure out a way to pass. And when I think about Hocevar, he’s pretty creative. Like, he does some stuff.

Jaime McMurray said after Darlington.

Another major advantage Carson Hocevar has is his ability to produce brave run and defend the rivals is challenging moments. But according to Jaime McMurray, the Spire Motorsports driver has one weakness the other two don’t. His racing IQ isn’t on the same level as the veterans and that needs to develop significantly.

And I’m like, man, that was brave. But he can get past cars as well. And he can also defend well. So, I think he has really good racecraft. But the last thing that you have to have is you have to have some racing IQ. And when you look at Carson, he’s in the bottom handful of racing IQ guys in the field.

Jaime McMurray added via Speed with Harvick and Buxton.

Jaime McMurray insists Carson Hocevar is continuing to make poor decisions

Further talking about the point, McMurray asserted that poor decision making has been a major talking point about Hocevar in the 2026 season and also admitted that sometimes he gives the racer a break because he has a massive fanbase. The veteran acknowledged the fact that the driver is pretty good when it comes to attracting new fans to the sport.

He just continues to make poor decisions. And I’m a little reserved to be critical of him because I feel like, social media-wise, just because he has a lot of fans. And I think that’s great. But what I’ve learned on social media is that he has brought a lot of new fans into the sport. There’s no doubt. And that’s so great.

Jaime McMurray said.

Later he also admitted that Hocevar has become the kind of racer he doesn’t want his son or any of the young racing hopefuls to look up to, as that isn’t how a driver should act on and off the track. His inability to earn the respect of his peers is another major issue that needs attention.

But those people don’t really understand racing as well as everybody at this table or as the garage in general. And a lot of our criticism of Carson is because… And even if you take Carson, if you were to go back 12 or 15 years to when he was growing up racing, no one aspires to be what Carson is right now. The ultimate gift you can have in racing is to have the respect of your peers and the people around you. And he doesn’t have that.

Jaime McMurray added.

The comments from the former racer are on point and shows how Hocevar has made too many enemies in the NASCAR garage. It would be interesting to see how Hocevar is going to grow as a racer in the coming years and whether he can change the opinions of racing legends about him.

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