Spire Motorsports has suspended Carson Hocevar, forcing him to sit out the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The decision follows an aggressive brake-checking incident that knocked Austin Cindric out of the Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.
Harvick Calls for Action Over Brake-Checking
Kevin Harvick stated that Carson Hocevar has placed NASCAR in a difficult position due to the brake-checking incident. The 2014 Cup Series champion and FOX analyst expressed on Monday during his weekly show with Will Buxton that NASCAR should view the action similarly to an intentional right-rear hook.
“Yeah, usually you hold that for your worst enemies,” Harvick said on the show. “Been there, done that with the brake-check thing. And usually that is leading to the last source of, ‘Hey, middle finger, I don’t care what you think. I’m going to I’m going to tear your day up.’”
Harvick noted that he reviewed video footage and observed minimal contact from Cindric’s vehicle before Hocevar performed multiple brake-checks. He explained that drivers rarely use such tactics unless they are entirely frustrated and looking to start a conflict, though no such feud followed.
The former champion also pointed to NASCAR’s decision earlier in the year to soften the front bumpers of the cars for safety and competitive reasons. During Sunday’s race, Josh Berry brake-checked Ryan Blaney, while Hocevar repeatedly used his rear bumper to eliminate the Team Penske No. 2 car from competition. Throughout the incident, spotter Tyler Green repeatedly instructed Hocevar to stop brake-checking Cindric, but those warnings were ignored.
Potential Penalties and Disciplinary History
Because Hocevar has already been called into the series hauler earlier in the season, Harvick suggested that NASCAR should consider a penalty for the driver, who is currently under an informal probation period.
“I think when you look at it from a NASCAR standpoint, it’s detrimental to the way that you want to see things race and probably falls into the right-rear hook category of whether it’s intentional or not intentional with the way that all this happens,” Harvick explained.
“That’s the dirtiest of dirty tricks that you can possibly use on the racetrack. And to see it happen three, four times on the racetrack, when you go back and you listen to his spotter, even his spotter was aggravated with the way that he was doing things and trying to tell him to move on and start racing again.”
Spire Motorsports suspended Hocevar for the upcoming season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway following the incident.
