There’s no denying that Carson Hocevar resonates strongly with fans, even more so lately. With one particular driver getting the limelight, some people might believe there is a growing sense of frustration among other drivers. However, Chase Elliott insists that is not the case.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
In the media interaction with Frontstretch on X, he said, “I view that as frustrating. I’m not sure that’s the right word for it all.”
Elliott also stressed that fan preferences are a matter of personal preference, suggesting that there is little reason to treat Hocevar’s popularity as something that would frustrate his fellow drivers.
“You know, a lot of people gravitate to… That’s everyone’s own personal choice.”
Rather than directly endorsing the idea that those perceptions are creating frustration, Elliott chose to push back on the wording of the question itself. His response was notably measured, stopping short of describing Hocevar’s fan following as a source of annoyance.
That distinction is important in the context of the question. There is a difference between a driver being a polarizing figure among his competitors and being a popular figure with fans. And Elliott appeared to separate those two aspects when discussing Hocevar.
It is worth noting that a lot of fans are making the case that Carson Hocevar can win the Most Popular Driver of the Year award, beating Elliott in the process. The HMS driver has won the award 8 times in a row and is considered a fan favorite driver. Yet the emergence of Hurricane Hocevar has emerged as the next big star driver from the Cup garage.
What separates Hocevar from other drivers in the garage is that he is unapologetic, bold, and doesn’t shy away from making mistakes. And when he’s in a fight, he can throw some punches as well; he gave us a glimpse of that at Bristol.
NASCAR had the option to penalize Hocevar for throwing a punch, but they saw it as two drivers hashing out their differences, and that was it. This incident marks a transition in how drivers react to on-track friction. The Cup garage believes in self-policing, but Hocevar keeps testing the waters, and he seems to be galvanizing the fan support on the back of it. But this isn’t the first instance when a young driver got into an argument with a veteran racer.
Remember the 2013 Auto Club Speedway race? Tony Stewart wanted to fight a 22-year-old Joey Logano for putting up an aggressive block. Two years later, Matt Kenseth wrecked Joey Logano at Martinsville, simply sending him the message and returning the favor for ruining his playoff run at Kansas. Back then, people hated Logano for standing up to those guys, but now the roles are reversed.
“I don’t understand though, when I came into the sport and I had run-ins with veterans and all that stuff, right? And people hated me for that, right? Forever. And to this day, I still get booed like you wouldn’t believe for the things I did when I was 19-years-old. This kid comes in and wrecks way more people than I ever did, and people love him!” Logano said prior to the Bristol fight.
Another way Hocevar seems to have utilized his friction with his rival is with a smart business move. After the run-in with Brad Keselowski at Darlington and getting the warning from him, the Spire driver put out a 6 percent discount on his online merch store. And the theme repeated after the Bristol brawl; he put out a 12 percent discount on a flash sale.
Elliott has the luxury of not having any strong opinions about Hocevar for now, as he hasn’t been on the receiving end. Perhaps an on-track incident can flip this equation, or perhaps not. But it will be interesting to see if Hocevar ranks above Elliott in the popularity chart by the end of this season.