In mid-June, Carson Hocevar got his customary NASCAR fine. This year, however, the reason was slightly different from earlier seasons. In 2024, he incurred a penalty for intentionally spinning Harrison Burton. But in 2025, it wasn’t because of a physical altercation, but instead a verbal accusation. During NASCAR’s visit to Mexico, he called Mexico City a “s—hole.” And thereafter got a fine of $50,000 slapped on his head.

After almost five months, the tides have changed. Carson Hocevar is still exhibiting his signature cocky attitude, but now he has to do so with a grain of salt. That is because a NASCAR racer hailing from Mexico will be his future teammate. Yet both have already clashed before officially racing as teammates.

Carson Hocevar tries to level with his peer

“Spire Motorsports, for me, is that breath of fresh air,” Daniel Suárez said recently. The Cup Series driver has raced under the Trackhouse Racing banner for five years, but is now jumping ship to Spire Motorsports. He announced that he would be replacing Justin Haley’s No. 7 ride from 2026. However, the “breath of fresh air” turned into fumes of anger at Martinsville Speedway. On lap 216 of the Cup Series race, Suarez got into the No. 77 Chevrolet, sending the latter for a spin. In response, Hocevar fumed over the radio: “F— him.”

Besides sparking controversy, this also marked quite a nasty start to the duo’s future in Spire Motorsports. Nevertheless, ahead of the Cup Series finale at Phoenix Raceway, Carson Hocevar admitted to messing up in Martinsville. “I know I do a lot of dumb s—,” he said. Hocevar also talked it over with his future roomie. “We just laughed about it…I was like…We’re teammates now, you don’t have to fully expect that if I brake-check, you just assume that it’s unintentional…Looking forward to the company dinner at the end of the year.”

Back in 2011, Brian Vickers unleashed chaos in Martinsville. He drove into the back of the car of Matt Kenseth and intentionally wrecked him, due to prior issues. Carson Hocevar referred to this infamous incident and said he learned his lesson from it. “I’ve watched the Brian Vickers 2011 video a lot, so I think that was the racing gods telling me I laughed at that video enough. It was my turn.” He added that he is simply focusing his attention elsewhere. “I’m just excited for our reset and go back to some really good tracks where we only get to go once a year.”

Carson Hocevar is putting in effort to ameliorate tensions with his new teammate. He is following in the footsteps of Spire Motorsports team owner, Jeff Dickerson, who gave a warm welcome to Daniel Suárez. “I have a lot of respect for how Daniel has forged his path here and has become a mainstay in the industry, and it’s easy to see how he’s done it. He has a great attitude and never stops, and we look forward to having another veteran for our organization to learn from and bring a new perspective to move the No. 7 team up the grid.”

As for Daniel Suárez himself, he has mixed emotions about the transition.

Accepting the next phase of his career

Daniel Suárez has had a rollercoaster ride in his NASCAR career. After clinching the 2016 Xfinity Series championship, he jumped around a few teams like Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing. But in 2021, he landed a full-time ride with Trackhouse Racing. In 2022, he became the first Mexican-born driver to clinch a Cup Series race trophy at Sonoma Raceway. Suárez clinched his second trophy in Atlanta in 2024 – and is now leaving the organization with a spot of regret. “I’m leaving happy, but not satisfied. I would have liked to be listened to a bit more when it came to the internal changes that were needed within the team,” he said.

Nevertheless, Daniel Suárez is grateful for the position he holds in his life right now. After 10 years of racing in NASCAR, Suárez feels special. “Would I like to have more wins, more championships, and more stability with teams? Of course. But every driver is different. I’m a different kind of driver — that’s why I’m the only Mexican here. My journey has been completely different from everyone else’s, and I’ve had to struggle in a different way. So, yes, I’d like to have more, but at the same time, I’ve had to go through a lot more than most others.”

As Daniel Suárez enters a new chapter of his tough journey, the future looks bright. At least as far as Carson Hocevar is willing to give leeway to his teammate – so let’s wait and see what turns out!