Carson Hocevar sat on the Michigan International Speedway pit wall with a blank look and calmly waited as Bubba Wallace laid into him with an animated lecture.As Wallace did nearly all the talking, Hocevar nodded and offered a few smiles. The one-sided conversation ended with Hocevar patting Wallace on the shoulder — defusing the tension while offering little remorse.The third-year Cup Series driver, whose aggression has earned him the nickname of “The Hurricane” in rubbing the NASCAR establishment the wrong way, left a trail of wreckage in his wake Sunday at Michigan.With a fifth place in the No. 77 Chevrolet, the Portage, Michigan, native earned his best career Cup finish at his home-state track. He also triggered a nine-car crash on a midrace restart by bumping John Hunter Nemechek as the cars ahead of him were slowing down.“I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t mean to do that,’ ” Hocevar said. “I obviously feel bad that I wrecked them and everything, but my intention wasn’t to wreck anybody, really. So next time I’ll know what to do a little differently.”
Many of his peers believe the Spire Motorsports driver should be doing everything differently.
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“Well, you can count on Hocevar to always do dumb (stuff),” Nemechek radioed his team. Josh Berry jokingly referred to Hocevar as “The Intimidator,” the moniker of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt. “I hope at some point (Hocevar) figures it out, but I know I’m not going to show anything to him for a long time,” said Austin Dillon, who finished 36th after his No. 3 Chevy was trashed in the wreck.
