Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do; that seems to be the mantra for Carson Hocevar’s 2026 season. The closing laps of the Atlanta Motor Speedway delivered chaos, controversy, and a reshuffled ending that you saw coming. As the race tipped into overtime, tension spiked on the restart when contact between Christopher Bell and the young ace sent Bell hard into the outside wall.

The caution flew immediately, setting up yet another reset, and now, as Christopher Bell regained some of his composure post-race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver wasn’t ready to point fingers in the heat of the moment.

“Unfortunately, you got me a little too early because I haven’t seen it, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut until I see a replay,” Bell said. “But you never expect anything, especially from him. I haven’t seen the replay. Maybe there was a hole there, and that’s what he thought he was going to try to fill.  ”

Bell, looking to gain an advantage, had lined up on the outside of the front row alongside Bubba Wallace, with Hocevar tucked in directly behind him in the preferred top lane. As the green flag waved, the outside lane surged.

The Spire Motorsports driver gave Bell a push entering turn one, but the run stacked up quickly. Whether it was a mistimed or a shrinking gap, the contact wasn’t square.

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Hocevar’s front bumper caught Bell slightly off-center, upsetting the No. 20’s rear balance at full throttle. From there, it escalated fast. The JGR driver’s car snapped loose and shot off the banking, slamming the outside wall before the field could scatter.

Bell eventually lost the upper hand he had at the beginning of the overtime brought out by William Byron, starting at the front of the row and ultimately finishing the race in 21st place.

However, Carson had his own reasons, as Atlanta proved to be one of his strong tracks again. Looking for his long-lost maiden cup series victory, Hocevar’s afternoon at the speedway was a mix of recovery and missed opportunities.

He fell two laps down early in stage one but steadily worked his way back onto the lead lap and into contention, ultimately putting himself in the fight near the front by the closing laps.

On the second overtime restart, he lined up alongside eventual race winner Tyler Reddick for the lead as they crossed the start-finish line. However, when Chase Briscoe pushed Reddick in the lower lane, Hocevar was left without drafting help on the outside. The momentum shifted quickly; he was shuffled backward, and his shot at his first NASCAR Cup Series win slipped away.

“You know, I got such a big run, and he (Bell) kind of opened it. As I got there, I felt like there was a hole. But I got there so fast that I’m sure it was closed by the time I arrived. I don’t mean to tear them up, obviously. But at the same time, I felt like that move was probably going to win us the race last year. I felt like if I got an opportunity, I was going to shoot for it,” he said post-race, clearing the air about the Bell incident.

However, the late race drama wasn’t limited to Bell. Earlier, with just 23 laps remaining, Hocevar had already been at the center of another pivotal moment.

Hocevar apologizes to Joey Logano after yet another shove

Joey Logano was firmly in contention, running one of the strongest races of the afternoon, when the No. 77 made slight contact with the rear of Logano’s No. 22 entering the corner.

The tap was minimal, but at Atlanta’s high speed, that’s all it takes. Logano spun, bringing out a caution that erased his winning opportunity. Hocevar immediately owned up to the mistake over the radio.

“I didn’t mean to do that. Apologies. Tiniest contact, just my fault. I think he got tight. Completely on me,” he said.

While the No. 22 driver’s car wasn’t destroyed, his shot at victory vanished. Ironically, the caution helped the young ace cycle closer to the front, placing him in position during the overtime scramble that defined the race’s final outcome. In Atlanta, survival and timing were everything, and controversy rode shotgun to the very end.