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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of JR Motorsports, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 11, 2026 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has pushed back against the criticism aimed at Carson Hocevar after the NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> race at Darlington Raceway<\/a>. Hocevar became the focus of NASCAR drama after his contact with Brad Keselowski during the Cook Out Southern 500. The incident sent Keselowski into the wall and ended Stage 1 under caution.<\/p>\n Keselowski finished 23rd, while Hocevar recovered to finish 11th. Christopher Bell won the race. The incident then became a major NASCAR story, with Keselowski warning Hocevar that payback could come and Denny Hamlin criticizing Spire Motorsports.<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr., however, took a different view. Speaking on Dirty Air with co-host T.J. Majors, he said NASCAR needs drivers who create rivalries, drama and attention. His comments came as the Hocevar controversy continued to dominate discussion around the sport.<\/p>\n Dale Earnhardt Jr. Defends Carson Hocevar After NASCAR Drama<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr. said<\/a> he likes much of what he sees from Hocevar and believes the young driver brings something NASCAR needs.<\/p>\n \u201cI like a lot of what I see,\u201d Earnhardt Jr. said. \u201cI like that. We need the rivalries, the entertainment of it. We need it. And he\u2019s providing it, man.\u201d<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr. did not say Hocevar was right to make contact with Keselowski. Instead, he said he would like to know whether Hocevar made a mistake or caused the incident intentionally.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you pulled Hocevar out of the field entirely, man, I don\u2019t know that I like it as much as him being involved in it,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have anything that I would tell him to do differently. Other than I would love to know if he f*cked up or did he do that on purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n Hocevar has not publicly said that he intentionally wrecked Keselowski.<\/p>\n Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin Escalate NASCAR Feud<\/p>\n Keselowski made his feelings clear after the NASCAR race.<\/p>\n \u201cHis day\u2019s coming and it\u2019s coming hard. Watch out, Carson,\u201d Keselowski said.<\/p>\n Hamlin also entered the NASCAR controversy. He described Spire Motorsports as an \u201cunserious\u201d organization with \u201cno adults in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr. said Hamlin\u2019s comments were a strong personal criticism between team owners.<\/p>\n \u201cI love when we get Denny Hamlin coming on his podcast and saying they\u2019re an unserious organization,\u201d Earnhardt Jr. said. \u201cDenny Hamlin is really sharp, and he knows how to dig, and he knows how to really get you good.\u201d<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr. added that he would be angry if someone made the same statement about JR Motorsports.<\/p>\n NASCAR Needs Carson Hocevar, Earnhardt Jr. Says<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr. also acknowledged that his reaction could change if Hocevar made contact with a driver connected to him.<\/p>\n \u201cRace fan me is good with it,\u201d he said. \u201cUnless I mean, if he ran into Josh Berry, I\u2019d have a different opinion. Can I be honest? What do y\u2019all want me to lie? If he ran into Blaney, I\u2019d be like f*ck, dude, Blaney, go kick his ass.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said Keselowski has every right to seek retribution.<\/p>\n \u201cBrad Keselowski, I would say, is a good friend of mine, but we\u2019re all big boys, and he puts that driver\u2019s suit on, he knows he signed up for whatever may happen out there,\u201d Earnhardt Jr. said. \u201cAnd if he thinks this, he needs to go handle this. He will handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n Earnhardt Jr. then made his main point about NASCAR drama.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I mean, look, our sport needs this, whatever you want to call it. Drama, entertainment, controversy, whatever you want to call it. It needs it. And [Hocevar is] delivering it. I wish there were four or five more Hocevars in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n For Earnhardt Jr., the Carson Hocevar controversy has kept NASCAR fans talking after the race. Whether Hocevar intentionally caused the contact with Keselowski remains unanswered, but the NASCAR feud has already become one of the major talking points from Darlington.<\/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 DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 11: Dale Earnhardt Jr., owner of JR Motorsports, looks on during qualifying…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":891781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-891780","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\/891780","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=891780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}