Late in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, tensions ran high as Josh Berry made contact with Carson Hocevar in Turn 1, sending the No. 77 car into a spin. While Berry eventually crossed the line in 13th, Hocevar plummeted to 32nd, visibly frustrated. Despite Berry offering an apology post-race, Hocevar wasn’t buying it. The young driver’s refusal to accept it stirred conversation, not just about that moment, but about how drivers clear things up after tangling together on the racetrack.

Interestingly, Hocevar confessed on The Dale Jr. podcast that he doesn’t have a single friend in the garage. It wasn’t just a throwaway line; this clash, one in a string of many, has reinforced the reality that Hocevar races in isolation. From his Atlanta power moves to his beef with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the Spire Motorsports driver has been real with his approach. And according to him, the texting and calls on Monday are just a gimmick, a show of peace even when there’s tension simmering below the surface.

Carson Hocevar doesn’t want “fake friends”

In an interview with Frontstretch, Carson Hocevar doubled down on his now-infamous comment from The Dale Jr. podcast that he doesn’t have any friends who are drivers. The quote wasn’t misheard – it’s exactly how he sees the racing world. “I just don’t like fakeness, I like genuineness,” Hocevar said. “And you know how I am as a driver, and I think we’re all two-faced, so I just might as well just cut out the cord and know my friends are my friends, you know.”

He elaborated further: “It’s always just awkward when you’re on the limits, running with your friends and whatever… I do it on iRacing, and I don’t sometimes like racing my friends. Sometimes they want me to push them or do everything. And it just reminds me, it’s like, man, imagine if we were doing it where our jobs are at stake, you know—investment, money, and everything.”

Hocevar doesn’t deny the social consequences of being outspoken and rough around the edges. In fact, he leans into them. “It’s a lot easier to know my friends, my circle, or we just go racing. Like I said, I don’t need it.” He’d rather duke it out on the racetrack than send text messages, and even when Berry shipped him at Sonoma, he didn’t throw a tantrum like Stenhouse did after the Mexico race. He took it on the chin and went about his business.

The young driver in his sophomore season has had run-ins with some big-name drivers. He riled up Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and even Ross Chastain at Atlanta. Not to forget, he dumped Ricky Stenhouse Jr. twice, starting at Michigan and tempers flaring in Mexico City. Austin Dillon, although not directly impeded by Hocevar, sounded off on him after he got piled up in Chicago.

But looking at his current run of performances, it seems that Hocevar has bigger issues to deal with rather than brokering a peace treaty with his rivals.

Playoff picture looks grim for Hocevar

Heading into the Dover race weekend, all the momentum that the #77 had built up. After the tail end finishes at Chicago and Sonoma, the team suffered another disappointing result. They started off well with incremental gains, placed 26th after the first pit cycle. By lap 180, he had entered the top 15, but his run started to derail when he decided to pit after the leaders, as his team was handed a pass-through penalty for having the fuel can out of the pit box.

He suddenly found himself two laps down, and then Hocevar hit another bump. The No. 77 car snapped loose, causing the right side of the Chevy to make heavy contact with the outside retaining wall. The team tried to repair the car under the DVP rule and joined the race 52 laps down. The day went from bad to worse for Hocevar as he finished outside the top 30.

“Another tough weekend for the No. 77 team. We have so much speed, just need a weekend to put it all together for the result we deserve,” Hocevar said after the race. A spot in the playoffs is looking like a distant dream now, with a deficit of 125 points from the cutline. Only a wildcard race win might see Hocevar punch his ticket to the postseason.