Carson Hocevar spun himself second week in a row at Daytona International Speedway. The Spire Motorsports driver was in the right place at the right time, but once again he lost control of the No. 77 Chevrolet. And unfortunately, Erik Jones found himself on the receiving end of this mistake by Hocevar.
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“F**** that dude. Never f****** works out,” Erik Jones vented on team radio.
The incident happened on lap 155. Carson Hocevar found himself in a spot to contend for the lead. Trying to make the corner in the inside lane, Hocevar got loose and his car spun on the racetrack, making hard contact with the wall. Jones couldn’t react in time and his car collided with the No. 77 car.
This incident comes after Hocevar spun himself at New Hampshire, and once again he suffered a similar fate at Daytona. Erik Jones was eyeing a top 10 finish, but he had to park his car after heavy damage.
Instead of owning up to his mistake or apologizing to Jones, Hocevar blamed the new Daytona package for the crash. “These noses have a lot of lift, and it was a lot tighter with entry and exit with this package. The nose kept setting in and I couldn’t wheel out of it as it kept setting and getting free. But you know it’s a brand new package.”
Erik Jones has found himself in someone else’s mess. Earlier this year at Iowa Speedway, Tyler Reddick got loose and washed up the track on lap 4. Jones, who was right behind him, was also caught up in the wreck and slammed hard into the outside wall. This crash ended his hopes of making it into the Chase. And once again at Daytona, a potential top 10 run got wiped out because of Hocevar’s mistake.
Hocevar’s frequent mistakes have come at the cost of other drivers. Last week, at New Hampshire he tried to make a risky pass on No. 88 of Connor Zilisch. He cleared Zilisch, but tried to block his advance. The Trackhouse racing driver made contact with the No. 77 car, which sent Hocevar spinning. The only difference in this case was that Hocevar accepted his fault, “I spun myself.”
While Jones wasn’t affected by this DNF as he isn’t part of the top 16 in the Chase, Hocevar needs to be wary of his results. After the Brickyard 400, he was 5th in the points standings, the leading Chevy driver above the likes of Chase Elliott and William Byron. But the picture looks bleak for the No. 77 team after the month of August.
31st at Iowa, 37th at Richmond. This was followed by a 19th place finish at Loudon and another DNF at Daytona. It’s been four races since Hocevar last finished inside of top 10, and it reflects on the points standings. He enters the Chase placed 12th, and he will have to be error free to cut down the 80-point deficit he has against top seed, Denny Hamlin.
Darlington, Gateway, and Bristol have historically been decent tracks for the No. 77 camp. If Hocevar wants to be a legitimate title contender, he will have to avoid unnecessary drama and chaos. The focus has to be consistent top 5 finishes and wins across the 10 races.