The biggest controversies of Carson Hocevar's chaotic 2026 NASCAR Cup season

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Carson 'Hurricane' Hocevar has been the story of the 2026 season, making headlines almost every week.

Some of those moments were positive, like his epic Talladega win and post-race celebration, or his fan outreach and incredible merchandise sales. He made the Time 100 list for 'Most Influential People in Sports' and even attended the Met Gala.

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However, there's been plenty of negativity as well, and he will now end the NASCAR Cup season on the sidelines due to his most recent actions at Martinsville, with Spire Motorsports suspending him. Veteran drivers have been loudly critical of him throughout the year, even questioning if he cares more about fame than racing results at times.

So, we decided to recap just some of the biggest controversies that defined Hocevar's wild year behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet:

Punching Ryan Blaney at Bristol

This moment will likely be remembered more than any other in the long-run. Hocevar was in contention for the win at Bristol, but while battling Ryan Blaney for second, Hocevar sent him crashing into the wall after a failed block by the Penske driver, while he went on to finish third. After the race, Blaney approached him on pit road and grabbed Hocevar, who immediately starting throwing haymakers. Hocevar punched Blaney twice in the scuffle.

Hocevar told a later press scrum that he had never hit anyone before Saturday night, and thinks NASCAR would "lose ticket sales" if they dished out fines for the altercation. As for Blaney, he ended up regretting his part in the fight, and no penalties were issued.

Martinsville brake-check and spin

Watch: Hocevar talks Cindric brake check: 'We're just having fun'

In the penultimate round of the 2026 season, Hocevar was struggling with an ill-handling car. During a green-flag pit stop cycle, he lost control and spun out. However, several drivers were suspicious of the self-spin, believing it was intentional. Soon after, Hocevar got into it with Austin Cindric, even though they weren't on the same lap. Hocevar aggressively brake-checked him three or four times, destroying the nose of Cindric's car and ending his race. 

"No, I don't know, I got lost there for a second," said Hocevar after the race when asked to explain the incident. When questioned again if it was intentional, he added: "I just think that's Martinsville, and I think we were just having fun."

Brad Keselowski spin at Darlington

In the opening round of the Chase at Darlington, Hocevar was involved in the first natural caution of the race. Battling Brad Keselowski for position, he made some contact and Keselowski slid up into the wall. Hocevar then hit him a second time, completely spinning Keselowski out. Hocevar came under further scrutiny for his post-race comments, saying sarcastically: "I do everything for TV and entertainment purposes, based off everybody else, so I don't know -- whatever makes good TV. I just do it for the clicks, you know what I mean?"

Hocevar was dismissive of the incident itself, saying with a smile: "Yeah, he spun." When told that Keselowski threatened payback, Hocevar shrugged it off: “I’ll tighten my belts.” He also offered a 6% discount on his merch after the incident (Keselowski drives the No. 6), which is something Hocevar has done after run-ins with other drivers this year as well.

Ongoing feud with Corey Heim

Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar have quite the history, going all the way back to the 2023 NASCAR Truck finale where they clashed wildly while fighting for the title. In Cup this year, Heim is racing part-time and spun Hocevar out before going on to win the San Diego race. Nothing really came of that, but at the Brickyard 400 later in the summer, they had a far more tense exchange. Hocever started the race from pole, but during a pit stop cycle, he became trapped behind Heim and was losing laptime. He became frustrated and when Heim finally pitted, Hocevar aggressively turned down the track towards Heim's car and flipped him off. Both had some fiery comments later on, and Heim, who actually won the race, said to the media in regards to Hocevar: "You guys love talking about a guy that finished ninth."

Wild contact-filled drive at Atlanta

Christopher Bell crashes in overtime restart

Christopher Bell crashes in overtime restart

Hocevar had a crazy race at Atlanta near the start of the year. After an early tire issue and a side window blowing out, he clawed his way back into contention, and spun Joey Logano out late in the race. But the real controversy came in a late-race restart, when he tried to force his way up the middle and crashed Christopher Bell into the wall. He went on to finish fourth, but not before walling Bubba Wallace on the white flag lap.

"I turned Joey, I didn't mean to do that ... I just missed it by an inch or two and I owe him a gift card," said Hocevar after the race. He also said that he went for a hole between Bell and the race leader on the front row, but it closed up by the time he arrived. "I don't mean to end their day or destroy their car. I just felt like it was in my best interest to break up the Toyotas..."

One-sided Zane Smith rivalry

Watch: Zane Smith slams into Carson Hocevar after Phoenix checkered flag

Zane Smith does not like Hocevar, and he has not been quiet about it either. On a podcast appearance in July, Smith blasted Hocevar as a 'coward' and criticized his fan base. At Chicagoland, he intentionally wrecked Hocevar (and himself), which earned them both a trip to the NASCAR hauler. Hocevar acted confused, and didn't seem to understand why Smith hated him so much. At Phoenix later in the year, Hocevar slid up into Smith and knocked both drivers outside the top ten near the end of the race, but the incident actually began when Ross Chastain bumped Hocevar into the corner as he didn't like the way Hocevar cleared himself up in front of him. Smith didn't care about how it began and aggressively rammed Hocevar after the race, which earned him a $50,000 fine.

New Hampshire pace lap spin

A strange moment on the pace lap during a rainy New Hampshire race, with wet-weather tires on the cars. Hocevar throttled up ahead of the pace car and spun out at the exit of Turn 4. "Look at this guy. Look at this idiot," Logano said as he watched Hocevar spin. However, some didn't see it as a silly mistake, but something else entirely. Kyle Larson later claimed it was intentional, saying: "Spinning out before the race? That was 1000% just to get on TV."

At the epicenter of two restart pileups and Talladega Big One

Hocevar is a driver that just wants to go, and that has put him at the epicenter of some dramatic crashes this year. Now it's hard to put 100% blame on him for all of these incidents, but due to his reputation, his rivals were quick to point the finger. At Michigan, Hocevar tagged John Hunter Nemechek and triggered a pileup. Richard Childress was not impressed, saying over the radio: "Anytime their eyes are that close together, it means they’ve got a small brain." Bubba Wallace was among those involved and after the race, he sat on the pit wall and hashed things out with Hocevar. At Kansas later in the year, Hocevar tried to force his way up the middle on a restart, but Ty Gibbs was coming down as Hocevar went up. Several cars were once again destroyed in the melee that followed.

Most recently, Hocevar had a big run on Logano at Talladega in the closing laps of the race and ended up bumping him in the middle of the tri-oval. Logano lost control and was flying upside down within seconds. The frightening crash collected 15 cars in total.

Read Also: Spire Motorsports suspends Carson Hocevar, parking him for NASCAR finale Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett blast Carson Hocevar: "That's not racing" Carson Hocevar punches Ryan Blaney after late Bristol NASCAR clash Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith are in a feud that only one understands Carson Hocevar merch store reportedly approached $200,000 in sales after Keselowski clash Carson Hocevar earns first NASCAR Cup win, thrills Talladega fans with daring 'rodeo' burnout

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