Denny Hamlin assesses “level-headed” Ross Chastain’s Carson Hocevar confrontation at Atlanta
Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin shared his feelings about Carson Hocevar getting confronted after Atlanta Cup race.
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Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin and Carson Hocevar (Via IMAGO)
The second NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2025 Cup season was a wild event, with Spire Motorsports youngster Carson Hocevar’s aggressive racing style pissing of the veterans like Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. This resulted in a multiple post-race confrontation involving the 2024 Rookie of the season.
The most important confrontation involved Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who is a mentor to Carson Hocevar and a similar racing style. They have lengthy conversation away from the camara and though the No:1 Chevy driver didn’t get all the right answers he is expected; he was okay with it. JGR’s Denny Hamlin discussed the incident and shared his verdict, recalling the time he confronted the former.
I think Ross handled that great… I had that same conversation with Ross after the Phoenix race. He was very level-headed when we spoke, and it pretty much killed it between me and him at that point. He walked up and said, ‘I guess I pretty much deserved that.’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ and then we talked it out and then it was over.’
Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.
He highlighted how the Trackhouse driver deliberately moved to the grass to have the discussion away from the media and how they executed the private conversation well. He also praised both the racers for being level headed at the moment.
I think for him, he went to the grass because he did not want TV or anybody hearing what they had to say. He wanted it to be a private conversation and so, I think he executed it well. It looked like he was level-headed. Carson was level-headed. I got no issues.
Denny Hamlin added.
Denny Hamlin praises Ryan Blaney for impressive save at Atlanta
In the same podcast, Denny Hamlin shared his feelings about how Ryan Blaney saved the car after getting spun by Carson Hocevar on the third stage. The JGR veteran highlighted how impressive the 2023 champion was in keeping the car from wrecking and be lives the execution was perfect.
We talked about this when I got sideways at Daytona. The last thing you want that thing to do is suddenly hook back right. He did a great job of keeping gas in it, keeping the wheels left and trying to save it but also if you spin out just spin down to the apron and you’ll get the caution and you’ll be able to recover. I thought he executed that spin perfectly.
Denny Hamlin said.
Though it was a fine save and come back from Blaney, this incident ruined his chances of winning the race. If Hocevar had shown some patience at the moment, the No:12 team might have had a shot at winning the race at the end.
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