The season opener at Daytona International Speedway barely crossed the finish line, and Carson Hocevar has already found himself in hot water. In the United Rental 300, the 22-year-old fought to stay with the lead pack; late-race chaos caught him off guard. When Hocevar got tangled in a massive multicar wreck, the frustration didn’t end on the asphalt; another driver made a beeline for him on pit road, unloading their anger in no uncertain terms.

A moment was captured as the drivers cooled off, and the scene was straight out of a movie. One angry Carson Ware stomped toward the young ace to give the Spire Motorsports driver a piece of his mind.

“That’s not cool, bro… I know you don’t have to, but that’s the problem; you have no respect,” Ware vented.

Those harsh words come from the fact that Hocevar flipped off Ware in the cooldown lap, and the 23-year-old’s involvement in the wreck also took out Ware momentarily. The duo struggled to gain traction during the race due to incidents and misfortune in the mid-pack.

Hocevar was directly involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 114 as Rajah Caruth and Hocevar were deeper in the field.

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The collision, a result of cars jostling for position, immediately put him on the defensive and derailed his attempt to move up the leaderboard, and ended up trading paint with Ware.

Ware’s challenges were also more tied to pit strategy and timing. He pitted during the green-flag cycles alongside other midpack cars, including Anderson, Hocevar, Poole, and many others, which cost him track position and shuffled him back in the field.

The pit sequence, combined with the heavy traffic in the mid-pack, limited Ware’s ability to contend with the leaders late in the race, and the 25-year-old ultimately finished the race in 19th with Hocevar up in 20th.

And that is when he did not hesitate to point fingers at Carson Hocevar. Ware went on to explain what pushed him over the edge with the Spire Motorsports ace.

“I’m cool with people flipping me off, you know, I got thick skin, that’s fine with me, but, you know, I was just really displeased with Hocevar dooring our race car and tearing up stuff after the race,” he said post-race. “You know, our guys at Barrett Coat work really hard, man, and they put a lot of hours into this stuff… I get it, you know, everybody has emotions, but when we started tearing up race cars after the checkered flag, you know, that’s just something I’m not cool with.”

And while Hill stole the spotlight at the United Rentals 300, Carson Ware will definitely be taking time to cool off.

However, as Hocevar gained a rival on track,  it is important to note that Daytona International Speedway seems to be his first enemy this season.

A look into Hocevar’s Daytona nightmare

The Michigan native’s weekend at Daytona got off to a dramatic start in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he showed plenty of speed early by winning stage one and leading laps, showing he had to pay to contend up front.

Unfortunately, that promise quickly unravelled. He suffered a string of mechanical issues and flat tires, spinning multiple times and ultimately finishing a disappointing 35th, a far cry from his early potential and a harsh reminder of how unpredictable pack racing can be at Daytona.

Although his truck series result was rough, Hocevar turned heads in qualifying for the America 250 Florida dual, part of the buildup to the Daytona 500, ran competitive laps, and demonstrated solid speed among Cup regulars, helping secure his spot in the field as he prepares for Sunday’s Cup race.

While the exact starting position in the dual doesn’t guarantee a perfect day, qualifying strongly is a boost after an otherwise tough truck and Xfinity outing.

With limited opportunities left this weekend to turn things around, it can be said with much certainty that the 23-year-old will now shift focus to the 68th running of the Daytona 500, where he will look to salvage his performance with a strong Cup Series result.