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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 02: Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet speaks to the media during the NASCAR Cup Series Chase Media Day at Charlotte Convention Center on September 02, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Carson Hocevar<\/a> turned an early NASCAR Chase incident into the biggest talking point from the Cook Out Southern 500 after Brad Keselowski<\/a> spun on Lap 107. Hocevar\u2019s response only added to the tension. Asked about the contact, the Spire Motorsports driver smiled and said, \u201cHe spun.\u201d<\/p>\n NASCAR\u2019s official account shared the moment<\/a>, showing Hocevar\u2019s reaction after his No. 77 Chevrolet made contact with the left rear of Keselowski\u2019s No. 6 RFK Racing Ford.<\/p>\n Keselowski spun as the two raced for position late in Stage 1. The caution ended the stage immediately under NASCAR\u2019s new rules. Tyler Reddick won the stage, while Hocevar recovered from starting 34th to finish 11th. Keselowski later promised<\/a> that the incident would not be forgotten.<\/p>\n NASCAR Chase Opener Takes Unexpected Turn at Darlington<\/p>\n The NASCAR incident came with Stage 1 scheduled to end on Lap 115. Hocevar and Keselowski made contact on Lap 107, sending Keselowski around and bringing out the caution.<\/p>\n The timing mattered because NASCAR changed its stage-ending procedure in August after criticism over long caution periods. If a caution occurs with 10 or fewer laps remaining in Stage 1 or Stage 2, the stage becomes official at that moment. The yellow flag also serves as the stage break.<\/p>\n That meant NASCAR did not run the remaining eight scheduled laps. The running order when the caution appeared determined the stage points, with Reddick taking the win.<\/p>\n The change made the contact more significant because the Keselowski spin directly ended the first Chase segment. NASCAR\u2019s new format put the focus on the running order at the caution rather than extending the stage.<\/p>\n Brad Keselowski Sends Warning After Carson Hocevar Contact<\/p>\n Hocevar did not offer much explanation after the NASCAR incident.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what happened. He spun,\u201d Hocevar said with a chuckle. He repeated the response during multiple interviews and said the contact was not intentional. He later said he does things \u201cfor the clicks.\u201d<\/p>\n When reporters told him about Keselowski\u2019s warning, Hocevar replied, \u201cI\u2019ll tighten my belts.\u201d<\/p>\n Keselowski gave a very different account. The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion said, \u201cHe ran into me.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether the two drivers had a history, Keselowski said, \u201cNo, but there will be. His day is coming and it\u2019s coming hard. Watch out, Carson.\u201d<\/p>\n Keselowski finished 23rd after another spin later in the NASCAR race.<\/p>\n NASCAR Playoffs Move to Gateway With Feud Hanging Over Hocevar<\/p>\n The exchange adds to the attention around Hocevar as he begins his first NASCAR Chase. The 23-year-old, known as \u201cThe Hurricane,\u201d earned his first Cup Series win at Talladega earlier in 2026 and entered the 16-driver Chase as the No. 12 seed.<\/p>\n RFK Racing also added to the NASCAR tension by sharing a graphic featuring labels other drivers have used for Hocevar, including \u201ciPad Kid\u201d and \u201cmoron.\u201d<\/p>\n Broadcast analysts Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett also criticized Hocevar\u2019s response. Burton said drivers would eventually \u201cget sick of it\u201d and urged Hocevar to admit his mistake.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a champion,\u201d Burton said of Keselowski. \u201cYou don\u2019t just spin him around and dismiss him.\u201d<\/p>\n Christopher Bell won the 367-lap NASCAR race at Darlington after passing Kyle Larson late and holding off teammate Ty Gibbs. Hocevar finished 11th and remained 12th in the reset Chase standings, 89 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.<\/p>\n The NASCAR Chase now moves to World Wide Technology Raceway for Sunday\u2019s Enjoy Illinois 300 at 3 p.m. ET on USA. Hocevar and Keselowski are scheduled to race there again, putting their Darlington clash in the rearview mirror but keeping Keselowski\u2019s warning fresh.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 02: Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet speaks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-886936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}