Kevin Harvick Asserts NASCAR Garage ‘No Longer Trust’ Carson Hocevar

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar got a reality check from Kevin Harvick regarding the respect he lost in the NASCAR garage.

Kevin Harvick Asserts NASCAR Garage ‘No Longer Trust’ Carson Hocevar

Kevin Harvick and Carson Hocevar (Via Motorsports.com and IMAGO)

The 2025 NASCAR Cup season has been wild for Carson Hocevar as the youngster has found himself in the middle of controversies over his on-track aggression. His biggest beef at the moment is with Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who he has had run-in with twice in the last few race weeks. Their wild Mexico crash last Sunday just fueled the drama more.

At Mexico City Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was spun around in the late stage of the race by Carson Hocevar who was a lap down. The incident ruined his chances of finishing the race on lead lap, while his young rival didn’t earn anything from the run-in. The explanation given by the Spire driver regarding the incident was pretty cold, and 2014 Champion Kevin Harvick is not impressed.

In the latest episode of his podcast, Kevin Harvick who has been pretty open when it comes to his opinions about Hocevar, pointed out that Hocevar has lots the trust of the garage. Many including the likes of Kyle Petty was expecting the youngster to earn more respect with his raw speed, but his unhinged actions might make them backtrack on the statement.

Why Harvick thinks Hocevar lost the trust? Well, it is do with the fact that after every incident the youngster makes comments in the media only to do the opposite in the next race. The fact that the aggressive moves from the youngster isn’t also producing positive results the teams want, makes it hard for the star racer as well.  

I feel like at this point, everybody looks at it as it’s just a bunch of horseshit. They don’t trust him because it’s happened so many times over and over and over. I love the speed, but now the garage is looking for results and things to progress in the right direction, or all the rest of that talk is just irrelevant.

Kevin Harvick said via Happy Hour podcast.

Spire Motorsports punishes Carson Hocevar for his comments on the Mexico City track

Even before coming to Mexico City, Hocevar was in the headline over uncalled for negative comments on the track. Though he tried to save his face by backtracking on the comments post-race, it wasn’t enough to satisfy the NASCAR community.

Carson Hocevar
Carson Hocevar (image via Imagn images)

Spire Motorsport felt that the comments from their star driver didn’t match the core value of the team, which is respect and decided to punish him. He was fined whopping $50K, which will be distributed between three Latino charities.

These actions are consistent with Spire Motorsports’ core value of RESPECT, which is something we proudly display on every race car, team uniform, trackside hauler, and digital channel. Respect is not a slogan. It is a daily expectation that we ‘walk the walk’ in how we speak, compete, and serve the communities that welcome our sport.

Spire Motorsports said in a statement.

The 2024 Rookie of The Season would have to attend cultural sensitivity and bias awareness training, to make sure he will be more carefully with his comments in the future. The punishment, despite the apology from the driver, was given as additional steps to make sure the words carry weight.  

Carson Hocevar’s recent comments made during the livestream fell short of that standard. They did not represent the views of Spire Motorsports, our partners, or NASCAR. He has acknowledged his mistake publicly, and his prompt, sincere apology demonstrated personal accountability. We now take this additional step to underscore that words carry weight, and respect must be lived out loud.

Spire Motorsports added.

The comment from the team shows they were disappointed with the youngster and his actions on as well as of the track, in the Mexico City weekend. This might be the moment that will inspire Hocevar to be more careful with his online interactions as well as aggressive racing.

Also Read: (Video) Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell Fumble Podium Champagne Celebration at Mexico City