“I don’t know how you flip somebody off and you’re mad even though you still won the race.” Layne Riggs was left puzzled after the end of the Heart of Health Care 200 race last Saturday. Carson Hocevar, a sophomore driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, is usually known for setting off controversies. Be it his rage against Harrison Burton in Daytona or his Atlanta aggression, Hocevar has managed to tick off people. But who knew he could irk people even without his on-track antics?

The Spire Motorsports racer headed back to his old series during the Kansas weekend and fetched a trophy. Carson Hocevar wheeled the No. 7 Truck and led the final 35 laps. But while Layne Riggs made it difficult for him, Hocevar also made an unpleasant show, and NASCAR veterans are not at all pleased after what unfolded at Kansas.

Layne Riggs put up a remarkable run at Kansas Speedway. After starting from the 16th spot, the Front Row Motorsports driver lost track position significantly. However, Riggs put up a fantastic charge towards the end, slicing up the gap between him and leader Carson Hocevar by the final laps. But Riggs’s attempt to get underneath Hocevar to make a last-lap pass proved chaotic.

He got into his left-rear quarter panel, and both trucks slid up and made minor contact with the wall. Yet Hocevar maintained his truck’s balance and ran away to the start-finish line. While clinching his victory, he made a classic gesture that all rowdy NASCAR drivers use. Hocevar flipped a bird at Riggs. However, this seemed bizarre as the driver already won the race, and that itself could have been a statement.

As Hocevar said, “It was somewhat friendly, right? It was just kind … yeah, I don’t, I don’t remember what I really did to be honest. No, if anything, I just wanted to remind him, really, of just like, hey, I still won, I guess. I don’t know. But at the end of the day, he did a really good job.” 

But, as the hosts of a recent ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’ episode pointed out, Carson Hocevar was just being himself. Tommy Baldwin Jr. was puzzled, as he claimed that Hocevar would have wreaked more havoc than Riggs. He said, “The kid drives the wheels off it…I don’t know what he would be mad at, because he would probably do the same thing and more. Knowing him and his mentality, he probably stuck that hand out with the finger, having fun, like, ‘F— you, you didn’t get me.'” Co-host Karsyn Elledge also said that Hocevar may be over-enthusiastic in making a show. “You cross a line when you’re trying too hard to be a personality,” she said.

Then Freddie Kraft, who is used to seeing driver conflict in the Cup Series, shared his own insights. He observed how Carson Hocevar foolishly ruined a picture-perfect Victory Lane moment for his sponsors. Kraft said, “For me, it’s a maturity thing…you got sponsors on the side of your truck…You just ruined your Victory Lane, your checkered flag shot, because you got your middle finger hanging out the window. Not only does he do it in the middle, but he basically does it the whole cooldown lap as well…How hard is it? You just ran this guy down from god knows how many seconds back, taking the white flag.”

Kraft also shaved off blame from Layne Riggs, who unfortunately lost his runner-up spot due to a post-race disqualification. “I can’t really fault him for taking that shot, maybe he should have waited till 3 or 4, ’cause that’s where I thought he was a little bit better than Carson.”

Now, giving the bird isn’t something that is new to the sport. Dale Jr. is someone who knows this well enough, and had an interesting thought about its existence in the sport. A few years ago, he said, “You used to flip people off, all the time. Everybody did. If you got held up just a little bit by a lap car, there was gunna be a bird. Now, it’s kind of changed to where guys don’t like that. Everybody understands, nobody likes that. It’s become less common for people to flip people off on the race track. I think it’s more offensive today, than it used to be.” 

Regardless, while veterans were taking shots at Carson Hocevar’s ‘immature’ driving, a seasoned Cup Series driver observed how Hocevar may regret this in the future.

Words of advice from a senior

In any sports league, a senior player would guide the youngsters. That is important, especially when a particular young man’s enthusiasm is unbridled. Carson Hocevar may accurately fit that description, having made an enemy of himself in NASCAR ranks. Two-time Cup series champion Kyle Busch hurled expletives at him in Atlanta. Then Hocevar’s own mentor, Ross Chastain, lost his temper.

Many similar incidents have tarnished Hocevar’s reputation. Now, the Spire sophomore is intentionally doing so with his retaliatory tactics. The classic finger gesture that he showed to Layne Riggs may have seemed cool to him, but from a broader perspective, it was unnecessary. Austin Dillon can relate to this a lot, since it has hardly been a year since he set off a controversy.

Last year, Dillon dumped Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano to grab the win at Richmond Raceway in August 2024. Having faced immense criticism himself, the Richard Childress Racing driver gave his own insights on ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’: “You know, heat of the moment, probably at the time he’s thinking that was one of the coolest finishes he’s probably been a part of. Wins the race. Good job holding onto it. But it just didn’t turn out the way you wanted to when you decided to stick your finger out the window…Timing’s everything, right? He’s going to look at it and be like, ‘Damn, that was stupid.” 

Clearly, NASCAR veterans did not approve of Carson Hocevar’s Kansas gesture. Nevertheless, that scene yet again left a mark on fans’ minds like all his other aggressive exploits.