“The Garage Is Going to Respect This!” Kyle Petty Comes in Carson Hocevar’s Defense Amidst Nashville Backlash

Ex-NASCAR driver Kyle Petty has yet again come in the defense of Carson Hocevar, amidst the backlash over the Nashville crash.

“The Garage Is Going to Respect This!” Kyle Petty Comes in Carson Hocevar’s Defense Amidst Nashville Backlash

Kyle Petty and Carson Hocevar (via USA Today)

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar has been one of the major stars of the 2025 NASCAR Cup season, as he is taking the limelight with his impressive performance on the track as well as his aggressive moves. In the words of ex-racer Kyle Petty, he is the future superstars of the sports. The latest antics of the youngster at Nashville Superspeedway has yet again made the veteran to chime in.

Last Sunday, the No:77 Chevy drivers pulled of an impressive race, that earned him a second P2 finish in a raw, while Ryan Blaney secured the win. But Carson Hocevar’s performance wasn’t the talking point of the week, instead it was his crash with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on stage two. The NASCAR insiders has predicted a retaliation in the near future, while analyzing and criticizing the run-in.

But just like in the Coca Cola 600 weekend, ex-racer and Richard Petty’s son, Kyle Petty got the young Chevy drivers back. On his race recap for NASCAR, pointed out that Hocevar is an emerging superstar and the community has to deal with the whole drama, for some time. He is going to make a lot of enemies and fans with these moves.

Who he is an emerging superstar in this sport. Somebody that we, as fans, are going to have to deal with for a long time. Some of us will cheer him. Some of us will boo him.

Kyle Petty said via NASCAR on YouTube.

Then he addressed the warning of retaliation and garage placing from the veterans of the sport. Petty believes the garage is not going get involved in the situation, instead they are going to embrace it and Hocevar is going to earn respect. The veteran seems to indicate the just like the fans, the garage is also looking forward to having a drivers with personality on the track.

But let me tell you something. They talk about the garage fixing this thing. The garage is not going to fix this thing. The garage is going to respect this. The garage is going to embrace this.

Kyle Petty added.

Regardless of the comments from Kyle Petty, it is highly unlikely that someone like Stenhouse Jr. is going to listen to it. The Hyak Motorsports driver is known for being someone that is ready to retaliate when he feels he was wronged, hence the payback is coming and as of now there nothing Hocevar can say to defend himself when it happens.

Ryan Blaney gives his verdict on Carson Hocevar

In his post-race press conference, the race winner Ryan Blaney was asked about the performance of his young rival and how the star driver gave him a significant challenge. He pointed out that the Spire Chevy’s especially the No:77, has been really good in the 2025 Cup season and deserves the credit for fighting upfront for the win, despite being a mid-table team.

14. Ryan Blaney
14. Ryan Blaney (Via IMAGO)

Spire has been really, really fast this year. Mainly the 77 (Hocevar). He’s been really, really good and had a great shot to win that race last week and ran really good tonight.

Ryan Blaney told NBC Sports.

The consistent performance of Hocevar since the start of his debut race for the team proves Spire was right to give him an early promotion from the Truck Series, skipping the Xfinity stage of his career. He won the rookie of the season on his debut season and now is close to winning his maiden race, with the car not being the very being his only challenge.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Declares Ricky Stenhouse Jr. “Will Absolutely Wreck” Carson Hocevar After Nashville Clash