“He Ruined My Night”- Frustrated Christopher Bell Calls Out Spire Motorsports Over Carson Hocevar’s Darlington Antics

“I love it because it separates the men from the boys.” Christopher Bell’s words about Darlington Raceway turned into reality, as Chase Briscoe was the ultimate man on Sunday night. The No. 19 Toyota driver led for 309 laps en route to defending his Southern 500 victory. At the same time, however, Bell saw a ‘boy’ first-hand, falling prey to a young driver’s reckless antics. You may not need any description, as there has been only one young rabble-rouser in the 2025 Cup Series season – Carson Hocevar.

The No. 77 Chevrolet driver has had a fruitful sophomore season, clinching 2 top fives and 7 top tens. Carson Hocevar’s 7th top ten came by the end of the Cook Out Southern 500, but not before he wreaked havoc on Christopher Bell’s ambitions.

Carson Hocevar makes yet another enemy

On lap 152, Carson Hocevar brought out a caution as the No. 77 spun in Turn 4. The tangle with Christopher Bell happened during the caution period. As the No. 77 was exiting pit road, it was backwards, and ended up hitting Bell’s No. 20 Toyota. As a result, the latter sustained significant damage. Bell could limp towards a 29th-place finish, and has just 11 points before the cutline. In a post-race interview, Bell was audibly furious with Hocevar’s tactics. “The 77 just didn’t yield,” Bell said. “It’s our responsibility to not run into him if he’s racing for position. But the fact that he was the one that brought the yellow out, and the only reason we had contact was because he was so far behind the field, catching up. That’s very frustrating.”

Bell continued, “Honestly, I don’t really give blame to Carson; I think it’s more on his team to not let him know the circumstances. He’s pitted on an island with all the playoff cars. He just spun, brought out the yellow, he’s not gonna gain a spot on pit road. And he didn’t give way, and he ruined my night.”

After the devastating contact, the No. 20 team worked hard to repair the car. Pasting duct tape and cleaning the front portion of the car helped Christopher Bell at least finish the race and avoid a DNF. Nevertheless, Bell was extremely frustrated. He called out the No. 77 Spire team for not asking Carson Hocevar to be more careful.

Remember the Atlanta race in February? The 22-year-old Spire Motorsports driver enraged a slew of veteran drivers. Among them were Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Ryan Blaney. As it turned out, even race winner Christopher Bell had something to say about Carson Hocevar’s tactics. Hocevar lodged himself between Bell and Kyle Larson dangerously in an attempt to get ahead. Bell commented, “He’s been around enough now that you know he’s going to be the aggressor. If there’s a hole, he’s going to take it.”

During the Darlington race as well, Hocevar became the aggressor yet again. Eventually, Christopher Bell reassured himself with the hope that all is not lost. He said, “Looking at the positives, we’re still in the hunt, we’re not out of it…Just a night that could have been.” While Carson Hocevar stole this night from him, Bell’s risks are hardly over – because of the championship system.

Criticizing the root of the problem

After Joey Logano won the championship in 2024 despite being 17th in points, NASCAR has faced sharp controversy. The elimination format, introduced in 2014, ensures a win-and-you’re-in approach. This negates consistent drivers’ wins during the regular season and rewards drivers who can clutch their way to the championship. And Christopher Bell is among the drivers who have clamored for a change to this playoff format. The ‘Game 7’ structure of eliminations keeps thrilling fans to the core, as they are left guessing until the Championship 4 race about the ultimate winner. But at the same time, the question of merit also arises about who should be the season-long champion.

Christopher Bell shared his thoughts about the system recently, in a SpeedFreaks episode. He said, “There are a lot of positives that come out of the playoffs and having eliminations and stuff like that. So anytime that you narrow down the number of races—or the sample size that you have—to crown the champion, the more illegitimate it can become. So whether that number is three, five, 10, 36, the bigger the number, the more legitimate of a champion you’re going to have.” Hence, Bell advocated for a three-race championship round: “I think that if it was a three-race round, those three tracks are so important.” Bell said, “And it’s so tough. I mean, the fairest way is to make every race count and have a 36 race points champion. But we know that that’s not going to happen. That’s not the most entertaining way.”

Clearly, the format is already not doing Christopher Bell any good during the 2025 playoffs. Having faced Carson Hocevar’s ravages, let’s see if Bell can make up for Darlington in the next races.