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Carson Hocevar said Friday that earlier NASCAR fines did not change his behavior because “maybe the stove wasn’t hot enough,” and that this time, with a suspension from his own team, he has finally been burned.
Hocevar held an extended media session at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he is sitting out Sunday’s finale after Spire Motorsports suspended him for brake-checking Austin Cindric at Martinsville.
Hocevar: ‘I think my hand’s pretty burnt’
Hocevar was asked why this punishment would be different from his past fines.
“Maybe the stove wasn’t hot enough,” Hocevar said. “I want to keep them a hand on it until it finally burned. Burned my hand.”
Asked if he burned his hand this time, he said he did. “I think so. I think my hand’s pretty burnt. So, yeah, hopefully for my wallet, but also for my team and everybody, this is the last one I’ve got to deal with.”
“But ultimately, it’s not the fines. It’s more so, obviously, the actions that come with the fines,” he said. He said Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson compared the fines to a parking ticket for a millionaire. “Screw it. I’m just going to park here no matter what it is, because it doesn’t really hurt him.”
‘Bad-asses make moves going forward, not backwards’
Asked how he will balance his aggression going forward, Hocevar pointed to the difference between using the front bumper and the rear bumper.
“I think it’s very simple,” he said. “They put it in the highlight and commercial reels with the front bumper. They’re not going to put it with the rear bumper. And bad-asses make moves going forward, not backwards.”
On selling T-shirts
Hocevar pushed back on criticism from the garage that he cares more about selling merchandise than winning.
“I think it’s important to know that when I’m in the car, I am a hundred percent trying to improve our position, whether it’s smart or right or not,” Hocevar said. “I’m trying to get one more spot at a time. I am not thinking about, ‘Man, I’m going to sell a lot of T-shirts by making this move.’ When I get out of the car, I might go, ‘Man, okay, we could sell some T-shirts,’ but it’s not at all the same in the car versus out of the car.”
The penalties
NASCAR fined Hocevar $100,000 and docked him 25 points, as Pit This Time reported. He apologized in a statement and in a video before Friday’s session. Justin Haley drives his No. 77 today.
The Cup Series finale starts at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
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