Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have spoken in the wake of their dustup in last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.
Stenhouse retired from the race with a badly damaged car and took a major hit to his playoff hopes after a bump from Hocevar sent him sliding into the wall.
Hocevar, meanwhile, went on to finish second — matching his career-best result in NASCAR’s premier series.
Visibly infuriated over the contact, Stenhouse said during a televised interview moments after his exit from the race that he and Hocevar would be talking this week.
Well, the conversation happened as planned. And on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, Hocevar offered an update on where the two now stand.
Carson Hocevar Seemed Encouraged By Convo With Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Naturally, the first question that Carson Hocevar fielded during his media availability at Michigan was how his chat went with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
“It was productive,” Hocevar said. “You know, me and him both have the reputation, I guess, of being aggressive at times and everything. So at that one point, we both reminded each other that even with those reputations, we’ve raced each other very well together, right? It clashes together.
“I mean, we’ve had no issues before, as he had said, and I feel like we’ve had a decent relationship leading up to this. So, yeah, I thought it was productive. And based off his comments, I felt like it was received productive.”
How productive was their discussion, in all reality? Only time will tell, of course.
Does Carson Hocevar Still Expect Payback From Ricky Stenhouse Jr.?
During his post-wreck interview at Nashville, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hinted that retaliation toward Carson Hocevar could be forthcoming.
Hocevar said on Saturday that he does not anticipate any form of payback, however. He also added that the act of calling Stenhouse on the phone was not a stressor.
“He owns a sprint car team, so he’s one of the first drivers I’ll go talk to, just because I want to ask him about his sprint car team,” Hocever said. “So, you know, we’ve had that relationship, right? I mean, it’s not too hard to call. You just pick up the phone and call.
“I don’t get nervous a whole lot or awkward … sometimes I am awkward, but I don’t get nervous or anything before those calls, especially when I feel like it’s warranted. You see these guys 38 weekends, so it’s either you call them or you see them here (at the track). It’s probably just easier if you just move that timeline up. That’s really the biggest thing.”
