The NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan proved to be enthralling. However, Carson Hocevar has found himself in the spotlight after causing a wreck during a restart, leaving the NASCAR garage enraged. 

At the FireKeepers Casino 400, just moments after the Lap 84 restart, Hocevar got to the back of John Hunter Nemechek and tried to move left. But he ended up making contact with Nemechek, sending the Legacy Motor Club driver into Bubba Wallace. 

Wallace then hit Ty Gibbs in front of him, and Gibbs hit the Cup Series Drivers Championship leader, Tyler Reddick, causing a chain reaction. This melee took out nine cars off the grid.

Among others included in the incident were Denny Hamlin, who went on to win the race, Zane Smith, and Tyler Reddick. The 23XI driver suffered race-ending damage to his car, and so did Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon.

Meanwhile, the ‘Hurricane,’ as Carson Hocevar is nicknamed, managed to escape with minor damage and finished the race in fifth. However, due to this incident, many drivers and teams voiced their dissatisfaction with him.

NASCAR Garage Voices Their Frustration Against Carson Hocevar

Many of the drivers impacted by the crash spoke to the media and expressed their annoyance. Austin Dillon was one of the nine drivers involved in the crash. During an interview with Amazon Prime, he said (as quoted by reporter Duxtin Albino):

"I hope at some point he figures it out. I know I'm not going to show anything to him for a long time."

Meanwhile, Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, said (per Jeff Gluck):

"77 as usual is what causes these things."

But the harshest criticism came in from the RCR team owner, Richard Childress. According to Gluck, Childress took to the radio to express his frustration, saying:

"Yeah. Any time their eyes are that close together, it means they've got a small brain." 

Denny Hamlin was also one of the drivers to voice his frustration. Jordan Bianchi reported his radio exchange in an X post, writing:

"Denny Hamlin: "Man, Carson (Hocevar), he just gets so f****** excited he can't help it." No. 11 team: "Yep, and he came out clean.""

Bubba Wallace was seen speaking to Carson Hocevar on the pit road after the race. Here is an excerpt from what he said on the Prime broadcast (via Steve Taranto:

"He's creating a lot of enemies. This is the same old story, same old Hocevar. But I just told him, 'You're fast, a lot of us are jealous of what you have and what you're able to do, but we're beating you because we can put a race together better than you.' That's all." 

What did you think about the crash? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yash Kotak