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Analysts Steve Letarte and Jamie McMurray said NASCAR’s car data proves Carson Hocevar brake-checked Austin Cindric in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Breaking down the incident on this week’s Inside the Race, they showed SMT data from Hocevar’s No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet synced with video. It showed Hocevar applying about 1,000 pounds of brake pressure on the straightaway.
Letarte: ‘As simple as driving down I-77 and stomping on the brakes’
“You’re going to see him come to the bottom and you’re going to see the stomp on the brakes. That is 1,000 pounds of brake pressure on the 77 car,” Letarte said. “He gets off the brakes and then gets back on the brakes to make the corner.”
“That is as simple as driving down I-77 and stomping on the brakes,” Letarte said. “The evidence for me is 100% clear. And Carson Hocevar stomped on the brakes, brake-checking.”
https://x.com/NASCAR/status/2117338582767603751
McMurray: ‘You almost can’t defend against it’
McMurray said the pressure matched what Hocevar used to slow for the corner.
“The max pressure is the same as what you saw on entry. So it’s all that Carson can give it,” McMurray said. “As soon as he starts to pick the throttle up, he lets off, slams on the brakes. If you’re in the 2’s position, it happens so quickly, you almost can’t defend against it.”
“There’s no denying it because of the data we have on the car,” McMurray said. “But again, I would say I don’t blame the drivers for not admitting it because I think there could be some consequences that come from it.”
Hocevar: ‘It’s just Martinsville’
The contact caved in the nose of Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford and ended his race. Hocevar has denied that it was intentional.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s just Martinsville,” Hocevar said after the race. “Everybody’s trying hard and making moves and stuff. So, yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it’s just Martinsville. Sometimes you’re getting it. You know, vice versa. So, yeah, I don’t know. I had fun.”
Cindric said on his radio during the race, “NASCAR, what are we doing? Like, we’re just weaponizing cars here.”
NBC analysts Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett also criticized Hocevar’s explanation, as Pit This Time reported.
Will NASCAR act?
NASCAR has penalized drivers for intentionally wrecking others in the past, often when a driver admitted intent. Hocevar has not admitted anything, which leaves NASCAR to weigh the data and video. NASCAR had not announced a penalty as of Monday night. The season ends Sunday, November 8, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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