Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared his thoughts on what happened with Carson Hocevar and Joey Logano during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta. On this week’s Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt believes that Hocevar could have avoided spinning Logano late in the race.

“Hocevar is coming up the track. I know that the 22 (Logano) is shading down,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “One’s shading down, one’s coming up, but Hocevar can see him. In the driver code that I kind of know is if I’m on the inside and I see you off the right front of my car, it’s kind of my job not to run into you. 22 was coming down a little bit, but Hocevar, in my opinion, had an opportunity to not run into him.

“Hocevar, in my opinion, was coming up the racetrack, driving up the track across lanes to get there. I would say it was like 70-30 Hocevar-Logano.”

Carson Hocevar is known for his aggressive racing style. But when the incident with Joey Logano happened, he went on his radio and issued an apology.

“I didn’t mean to do that. … Apologies,” Hocevar said, per Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “…Tiniest contact, just my fault. I think he got tight. Completely on me.”

The contact with Hocevar led to Logano earning a P18 finish at Atlanta. Hocevar, on the other hand, earned a P4 finish and came close to earning his first win in the Cup Series after being on the front row in double overtime.

“Yeah, I mean, I choked,” Hocevar said after the race, per Nate Ryan of NBC Sports. “For our luck last year, well, I was like, if we just raced until the Busch Series length races, like stage two basically, we would be really good. Then it kind of goes to hell in a handbasket. Now I guess we’re really, really good this year at just getting to the white flag leading. Yeah, I went over to [Chase] Briscoe and just kind of laughed. I thought it was the right spot, being on top and everything. Then I look in my mirror. I’m like, ‘All right, perfect, he’s coming to me.’

“Then they start going left, and I was confused for a second. Then I looked to my left and realized it was another Toyota. I’m like, he’s not going to push me.”