It was another newsworthy week for Carson Hocevar over the weekend at Watkins Glen International.
He impeded a qualifying lap run by Brad Keselowski and even traded paint with Spire Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell, who spun him and received a door-slam on the cool-down lap as a result.
On the other hand, recognizing that Zane Smith has owed him one, Hocevar has started to wave him by without contesting the spot in the attempts to make things right.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., speaking on his Dale Jr Download podcast, says he’s watching Hocevar weave himself in and out of trouble and wonders when all the various conflicts and rivalries might come to a head.
“We said this months and months ago — everything’s fine until he runs into one of Rick’s cars or something like that and he has to go into the office and talk to Rick Hendrick. It might not be Rick, but it’ll be a person like Rick that when he has to go in and have that conversation, that will have an effect. That might not fix it all, but that will have an effect on the decision making behind the wheel,” Earnhardt said. “I’m entertained by Hocevar until it becomes my problem. I think it’s all fine until he does something that irks Hendrick. Or somebody that’s directly above his chain of command. In the Cup race, him and McDowell racing each other to the finish — that might get some conversations going. You don’t know if they’re gonna pin that on McDowell and let Carson off the hook.
“… If he goes out there and impedes a lap for Larson and the big man gets upset, because the big man has some influence over Spire and has influence over most things Chevrolet. When you start messing with what his program is doing or what he’s trying to accomplish, that’s when the vice gets a little tight and Carson will feel that. Until that happens, until his crew chief or owners outright go ‘Carson, stop it,’ he’s not gonna make the adjustments because he doesn’t have to or need to — doesn’t feel like he needs to, not gonna change or alter his style. … It’s building to something and it’s gonna be worth watching. I’m entertained wondering how this is gonna play out.”