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NBC analysts Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett criticized Carson Hocevar after he appeared to brake-check Austin Cindric several times in Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, and took issue with how Hocevar explained it.
The contact caved in the nose of Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford and ended his race.
Hocevar: ‘We were just having fun’
Hocevar denied the contact was intentional. He told Motorsport.com, “I got lost there for a second,” and added, “I just think that’s just Martinsville and I think we were just having fun.”
Cindric said on his radio during the race, “NASCAR, what are we doing? Like, we’re just weaponizing cars here.”
Burton: ‘It’s your job not to lose yourself’
“Well, that’s not just Martinsville,” Burton said on the broadcast. “I’m sorry and it’s just ridiculous. I don’t care. You know, that’s just ridiculous. It’s not — you get mad at somebody and you can’t just say ‘I lost myself.’ It’s your job not to lose yourself. You’re a professional race car driver. It’s just not an adequate answer.”
Jarrett: ‘That’s not racing whatsoever’
Jarrett, the 1999 Cup champion, agreed.
“Yeah, no, I’m not impressed with that at all. That’s not racing whatsoever,” Jarrett said. He pointed to superspeedway races like Talladega, where drivers need help in the draft. “You need some help to work your way up through and get a chance to win and then you wonder why everybody goes the other way whenever you pull out (of line)? And it’s because of things just like this, and you just can’t keep going.”
Burton added that Hocevar’s team was struggling. “Frustrations were pretty high for Hocevar, because they not running very well,” Burton said. “They were struggling, they were not good at all.”
A rough day for Hocevar
Hocevar finished 21st, two laps down, in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Earlier in the race, rival teams said on their radios that they thought he spun on purpose to bring out a caution on Lap 199. Hocevar responded to those accusations in a separate interview with Motorsport.com.
Burton and Jarrett also criticized Hocevar earlier this year after he wrecked Brad Keselowski at Darlington.
NASCAR had not announced any penalty for Hocevar as of Monday morning. The season ends Sunday, November 8, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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