Spire Motorsports owner Jeff **** erson responded to Denny Hamlin's bold statement about his team being an "unserious" one. The comments were made on Hamlin's "Actions Detrimental" podcast in the wake of a controversial incident involving Brad Keselowski and Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar at Darlington.
Towards the end of Stage 1 in the Cook Out Southern 500, contact between Hocevar and Keselowski sent the latter spinning. After the race, Hocevar was tight-lipped in his reaction to the incident, simply saying:
"I don't know. He spun."
Keselowski, meanwhile, had fiery comments for the driver of the No. 77 after the race."His day's coming and it's coming hard. Watch out, Carson," he said.
Hocevar said he will "tighten his belts" in response to Keselowski's comments.

#keselowski #spire

Spire Motorsports has been in the news all week for all the wrong reasons, especially for Daniel Suarez, who is in the NASCAR Chase.
Suarez, driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, has grown weary of hearing about his teammate Carson Hocevar spinning out Brad Keselowski at Darlington on Sept. 6 and the subsequent criticism aimed at Spire.
He is ready to shift gears and focus on the Sept. 12 NASCAR Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (2 p.m. C.T., USA).
DENNY HAMLIN BLASTS SPIRE MOTORSPORTS: What Carson Hocevar said about Brad Keselowski's threat and Denny Hamlin's podcast comments
"It's difficult because I think we're doing a lot of great things at Spire Motorsports," Suarez said. "Carson is going to have his personality, I am going to have my personality, Michael (McDowell) is going to have his personality, and that's Ok. We have to be authentic. But we don't want to affect the reputation or the integrity or create a distraction within the team. We already have enough distractions within the team."

#suarez #personality #brad

Carson Hocevar is having himself quite a year.
But apparently, NASCAR fans have found another reason to pay attention.
Enter Tabitha Swatosh.
The TikTok star and Hocevar have been linked for months, and their relationship has become one of the more talked-about romances floating around the NASCAR garage. Neither has officially confirmed they're boyfriend and girlfriend, but they've made enough public appearances together to keep the rumor mill working overtime.
And now Swatosh is becoming a story in her own right.

#neither #himself #quite

Carson Hocevar finds himself the center of attention once again after another messy day at the race track.
With the NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington for the first race of the Chase on Saturday, Hocevar was competing for points that would hopefully push him up the points standings and further into championship contention. Instead, he left with more negative attention, and more frustrated competition.
As the first stage of the race was coming to a close, Hocevar drifted up the track and spun the No. 6 of Brad Keselowski. Watching the replay, it is extremely, extremely clear what happened. Hocevar simply gets into him.
After the race, in which Hocevar finished 11th, the No. 77 driver dismissed the contact he made with Keselowski.
"Yeah he spun," he said smiling, when asked about the incident. "I don't know what happened. He spun."

#track #first #points

Carson Hocevar spun out Brad Keselowski, bringing out a caution and ending the first stage of the NASCAR Darlington race on Sept. 6.
There were still a few laps left in the stage, but when the yellow comes out so near the end, a new NASCAR rule states the stage ends.
Hocevar came close to taking out Joey Logano as well when he got into the back of Keselowski. There did not seem to be a reason for Hocevar making contact.
It was the first caution of the race.
Tyler Reddick won the stage, with Bubba Wallace second and Denny Hamlin third.

#hocevar #first

23XI Racing will lead the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for the Chase race at Darlington Raceway in September. Tyler Reddick won the pole for the 2026 Southern 500 at Darlington this weekend. Daniel Suarez will join Reddick on the front row for Sunday afternoon's event. Qualifying was cancelled due to lightning.
Ryan Preece and Denny Hamlin will follow the two drivers on the second row. Most notably, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Carson Hocevar, and Chris Buescher are the Chase drivers starting 20th or worse for Sunday afternoon's event.
The full NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Darlington in September 2026 is below!
No. 45 Tyler Reddick*
No. 7 Daniel Suarez*

#darlington

In what was the biggest race of his life, Ryan Preece not only earned his first career win at Daytona, but he clinched himself into the Chase for the first time in his career. This was not only huge for his season, but this race was personal. Considering the scary crashes Preece experienced in 2023 and 2025 at Daytona, it was fitting for it to be a happy ending this time. Yet, for what seemed like a dream scenario for RFK Racing and this #60 team, it definitely did not go to plan.
Things went array early in the race. As the field came to end stage one, Kyle Larson gave RFK's Chris Buescher a bad push. Buescher would hit the outside wall, while Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece would Tokyo drift through the grass. Preece's involvement in the incident was huge intially. Entering the race, he was one of three drivers who was fighting for the remaining two Chase positions. While this crash didn't eliminate him, it did send him from third to eighth in just a few hundred feet. This would end up costing Preece five points. In addition, his competitor Shane van Gisbergen would benefit from the incident, passing the crash to win the stage. This exchange put him another seven points behind his target.
Preece made up for that loss by clawing his way back in stage two to finish second. Throughout the race, he earned himself twelve stage points, while van Gisbergen only scored the ten. While two points isn't significant, it still is something.
The latter portion of the race was an uneventful strategic battle. With 39 laps to go, Ross Chastain led a group of Chevy's into pit road. Then, another handful of drivers countered with around twenty laps to go. These drivers would attempt to gain an advantage, but it would later be washed away. Preece and others would remain on the track, hoping for some luck.
With around ten laps to go, thing got chaotic while Preece was leading. Then with six laps to go, it snapped. Carson Hocevar made an abrupt move on Preece entering turn three, where he would lose control of his car. Hocevar would then come back onto the track, make hard contact with the outside wall, and collect Erik Jones in the process.

#daytona

Daytona International Speedway had been unusually quiet Saturday night. Then, with five laps remaining, everything changed.
Carson Hocevar lost control of his No. 77 Chevrolet late in the ****** e Zero Sugar 400, slamming the outside wall before collecting Erik Jones in a violent crash that brought out just the third caution of the night.
The wreck instantly changed the complexion of NASCAR's regular-season finale after the field had spent much of the race avoiding the kind of late-race chaos that has become synonymous with Daytona.
Hocevar was racing in the pack in the closing laps when his car suddenly broke loose and shot toward the outside wall.
The No. 77 Chevrolet made heavy contact, and Jones had virtually nowhere to escape as the incident unfolded directly in front of him. Jones' No. 43 Toyota was collected in the crash and also sustained a significant impact.

#daytona #chevrolet #outside #wall

Team Penske will lead the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for the race at Richmond Raceway in August. Ryan Blaney won the pole for the 2026 Cook Out 400 at Richmond this weekend. Chase Briscoe will join Blaney on the front row for Saturday night's event. It is Blaney's fourth pole position of the 2026 Cup Series season.
Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs will follow the two drivers on the second row. Most notably, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, Tyler Reddick, and Austin Hill all start 20th or worse for Saturday night's event.
The full NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Richmond in August 2026 is below!
No. 12 Ryan Blaney
No. 19 Chase Briscoe

#blaney #briscoe #saturday

Spire Motorsports enters Sunday afternoon's Iowa Corn 350 with plenty of work ahead after a difficult showing in practice and qualifying at Iowa Speedway. It certainly was no encore from the Brickyard for Spire.
The organization struggled to find consistent speed around Iowa's 7/8-mile layout on Saturday, with none of its three cars qualifying inside the top 10.
Michael McDowell led the way for Spire, qualifying 11th in the No. 71 Chevrolet. While McDowell narrowly missed the top 10, his starting position gives him the best opportunity of the three Spire drivers to move toward the front early.
Carson Hocevar will have more ground to make up after qualifying 18th in the No. 77 Chevrolet. Hocevar has shown plenty of speed throughout the 2026 season, but Iowa has not produced the same results so far. Starting in the middle of the field puts an added emphasis on gaining track position early without getting caught up in trouble.
The toughest challenge belongs to Daniel Suárez.

#qualifying

Carson Hocevar's unfiltered personality has quickly made him one of NASCAR's rising stars and a fan favorite.
And while his racing tactics may not endear him to other drivers (and those drivers' fans), the 23-year-old's passion for racing is not disputed.
Hocevar is an avid iRacing user who also does his fair share of late-model racing at short tracks around the country when allowed by his busy NASCAR schedule that includes the full-time Cup slate as well as a part-time Truck Series itinerary.
In that context lies Hocevar's thoughts on July 28 on NASCAR's current status as a TV product while watching the 2000 Talladega fall race, notable for being Dale Earnhardt's final Cup Series victory 26 years ago.
"It's insane we as a sport produce the product we give to fans and wonder why fans have lost interest," Hocevar wrote on social media. "This race is beautiful. The sights, the sounds, the cars, the production, the commentators.

#race

Carson Hocevar's unfiltered personality has quickly made him one of NASCAR's rising stars and a fan favorite.
And while his racing tactics may not endear him to other drivers (and those drivers' fans), the 23-year-old's passion for racing is not disputed.
Hocevar is an avid iRacing user who also does his fair share of late-model racing at short tracks around the country when allowed by his busy NASCAR schedule that includes the full-time Cup slate as well as a part-time Truck Series itinerary.
In that context lies Hocevar's thoughts on July 28 on NASCAR's current status as a TV product while watching the 2000 Talladega fall race, notable for being Dale Earnhardt's final Cup Series victory 26 years ago.
"It's insane we as a sport produce the product we give to fans and wonder why fans have lost interest," Hocevar wrote on social media. "This race is beautiful. The sights, the sounds, the cars, the production, the commentators.

#fans #hocevar #time #nascar

Ryan Blaney dominated before and after a 3-hour weather delay on July 12 and 13 at EchoPark Speedway.
But he still had to make a final-lap pass for the win on the drafting track via a major push from Christopher Bell to claim the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta.
Carson Hocevar held the lead at the white flag, but Blaney and Bubba Wallace made runs into turns 3 and 4 to create a 3-wide race to the line.
Blaney won, while Wallace was penalized for going below the yellow line on the backstretch. Hocevar finished 3rd, singing on the radio before the overtime finish and during his post-race interview.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR Atlanta race:

Ryan Blaney dominated before and after a 3-hour weather delay on July 12 and 13 at EchoPark Speedway.
But he still had to make a final-lap pass for the win on the drafting track via a major push from Christopher Bell to claim the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta.
Carson Hocevar held the lead at the white flag, but Blaney and Bubba Wallace made runs into turns 3 and 4 to create a 3-wide race to the line.
Blaney won, while Wallace was penalized for going below the yellow line on the backstretch. Hocevar finished 3rd, singing on the radio before the overtime finish and during his post-race interview.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR Atlanta race:

Where to watch Slinger Nationals 2026: Full schedule, times, live streams for 47th annual races originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The "toughest short track race in America" is back. The 2026 Slinger Nationals will return to Wisconsin this week.
Slinger Nationals is the premier Super Late Model event, typically featuring top talent from regional areas and the world of NASCAR. This year marks the 47th annual edition of the race, in which 35 drivers will compete on the high banks at Slinger Super Speedway in Wisconsin.
Fans should be on the lookout for NASCAR drivers Ty Majeski and "The Hurricane" Carson Hocevar, who are headlining the entry list on Tuesday. Majeski is a four-time winner and the race's defending champion, having led 133 of the 200 laps in last year's event. Hocevar will be heading back to Slinger for the fourth time, and looking for his first win.
Be sure to tune in for all the action.

Ryan Blaney earned his 19th career NASCAR Cup victory, winning from pole position at Atlanta in a three-wide battle. Blaney also swept both stages, dominating most of the event.
Bubba Wallace finished second, but was later penalized for advancing his position below the yellow line. That penalty dropped him down to 29th as the last car on the lead lap.
Christopher Bell was ultimately credited with second, Carson Hocevar third, Ty Gibbs fourth, and Erik Jones fifth.
Shane van Gisbergen finished sixth, matching his finish from this race earlier in the year. Austin Dillon was seventh, Tyler Reddick eighth, Joey Logano ninth, and Chris Buescher tenth.
Impressively, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap in Sunday's race, which ended just before 2am EST on Monday due to a lengthy weather delay.

Chase Elliott is adding another race to his schedule this season, as the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion has been announced as the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro. The entry will carry HendrickCars.com sponsorship as Elliott returns to Truck Series competition for the first time since his substitute appearance at Daytona in February of 2023.

Elliott has made 18 appearances across seven seasons in the Truck Series, and built quite the resume. Chase Elliott would score 3 wins, 11 top-five finishes, and 12 top-ten finishes. Along with those amazing finishes he also has led 210 laps and got 2 pole positions.

Chase will be driving for a team that isn't shy from Victory Lane in the Truck Series, while also running the CARS Tour for JR Motorsports on Friday night, in lieu of Kyle Busch. Spire Motorsports has totaled 213 starts, 7 pole positions, and 12 victories in just over four years since the beginning of their team in 2022.

Spire Motorsports has had a lot of great drivers wheel their cars in the truck series this season, and Chase Elliott will be another named added to list.

Drivers who have raced for Spire in the Craftsman Truck Series this season:

Kyle Busch
Carson Hocevar
Connor Zilisch
Michael McDowell
Jesse Love
Sammy Smith
Parker Kligerman
Justin Marks
James Hinchcliffe
Connor Mosack

Chase Elliott will take control of the No. 7 truck on Saturday, July 18, 2026 at North Wilkesboro in hopes of capturing another win in the Truck Series, and he will race for a team that puts him in great position to do so.
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The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season has produced repeat winners, first-time winners, road course specialists, superspeedway surprises, and dramatic late-race battles. Tyler Reddick has emerged as the season's winningest driver through the opening 20 races, while drivers like Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Shane van Gisbergen, Carson Hocevar, and Daniel Suárez have all added victories of their own.
Here's a complete look at every Cup Series winner so far in 2026.
Winner: Tyler Reddick (Toyota)
Reddick opened the season with the biggest victory in NASCAR, winning the Daytona 500 after starting 26th. He led just one lap, but it was the only one that mattered as he edged Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the finish.
Started: 26th

About halfway through Stage 2, a lightning strike within eight miles of EchoPark Speedway forced NASCAR to red flag the race, bringing the field of 38 cars down pit road.
There were no incidents in the first 109 laps of the race and all cars were still running. The race needs to reach Lap 131 to be official as that is the halfway point of the event.
There are thunderstorms in the area, and rain began to fall after the cars were stopped on pit road.
Ryan Blaney was leading the race at the time of the stoppage, with Bubba Wallace second, Tyler Reddick third, Christopher Bell fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth.
Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Ty Gibbs fill out the remainder of the top ten.

The simmering feud between Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith isn’t staying behind at Chicagoland Speedway.
With NASCAR confirming the two drivers will meet with series officials before Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart at EchoPark Speedway, Smith made it abundantly clear this week that his opinion of Hocevar hasn’t changed. If anything, it has only hardened.
Appearing on the “Racin’ With The Boys” podcast, the Front Row Motorsports driver revisited the growing rivalry that spilled over during last weekend’s Cup Series race and offered one of his strongest public criticisms yet of the Spire Motorsports driver.
The tension between the two drivers has been building for months.
Last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, contact between the pair on Lap 32 sent both cars into the outside wall. NASCAR reviewed the incident afterward and elected not to issue penalties, but the series will hold a meeting with both drivers before Sunday’s race at EchoPark Speedway.

The last time Carson Hocevar raced in the Slinger Nationals his night was done early. He ended up 23rd.
The time before that, he finished with Steve Dorer's car on his roof.
These days, though, Hocevar is not just a fast and sometimes over-the-edge teen trying to make his way in NASCAR trucks.
Coming back to Slinger Speedway for the July 13-14 Nationals after a three-year absence, the 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, is fully established on the national stage. Yes, he still pushes boundaries, and he's still a lightning rod, but he's a Cup Series race winner with a long future ahead.
Suffice to say Hocevar is looking for a better result at Slinger this time and hoping that any excitement is a little less … uh … exciting than the 2021 outcome.

With a handful of big Wisconsin asphalt super late model races behind us, the biggest is next on the calendar: the 47th Slinger Nationals on July 13-14.
NASCAR Cup Series top-10 driver Carson Hocevar, who has competed in the Slinger Speedway special three times, is the biggest national name on the 35-driver entry list. Wisconsinite Ty Majeski, the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series champion, is the early favorite, having won four times in the past eight years.
They'll be joined by past winners, track champions, top prospects and national barnstormers, among others.
Here's what to know.
More: Key Wisconsin motor sports events for the 2026 racing season

For years, Chase Elliott has comfortably worn NASCAR’s “Most Popular Driver” crown.
Carson Hocevar may not be ready to take the trophy away just yet, but he might be winning over the sport’s next generation of fans.
Love him or hate him, Hocevar has become impossible to ignore in 2026.
The 23-year-old Spire Motorsports driver seems to dominate social media almost as often as he makes headlines on the racetrack. One day he’s playfully trolling fellow drivers, the next he’s trading jokes with NFL personality Kay Adams, hopping into Twitch streams, racing fans on iRacing or replying to random followers on X.
It’s all remarkably authentic.

Michael McDowell's future at Spire Motorsports has become murky during the 2026 NASCAR season. With Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar running at a very high level, McDowell has been far and away the least productive driver at Spire Motorsports. However, will it spark a change for the No. 71 team?
Motorsports Wire is predicting that McDowell will return to the No. 71 car for Spire Motorsports in 2027. Despite rumors of a possible departure or retirement, the Daytona 500 champion will earn another go in the entry. McDowell will have to make steady improvements during the 2027 NASCAR season.
Spire Motorsports doesn't seem likely to make any changes after a very successful start to the 2026 NASCAR campaign. McDowell isn't likely to be a long-term fit with the organization, but he does represent a solid bridge driver until Tristan McKee is ready to make the jump to the NASCAR Cup Series.
More: Predicting Hendrick Motorsports' driver lineup for 2027 Cup season
This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Michael McDowell's 2027 prediction: Will he return to Spire?

Spire Motorsports has been one of the NASCAR Cup Series' most improved organizations. Carson Hocevar is locked into a multi-year contract, while Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez could be on the hot seat. Despite the possibility of Suarez and McDowell leaving, don't expect there to be any changes.
Motorsports Wire is predicting that Suarez and McDowell will return for another season with Spire Motorsports. Suarez has been very impressive, and there is no reason for Spire Motorsports to let him leave. Meanwhile, McDowell earns another season despite not having the same speed as his teammates.
There will be a time when McDowell will either leave or retire, and he seems to be the most likely driver to leave the organisation next. Hocevar is locked in for hte foreseeable future, and Suarez has been running very well. For now, expect all three Spire Motorsports drivers to stay put.
More: How to watch NASCAR live at Sonoma in June 2026, full schedule
This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: Predicting Spire Motorsports' driver lineup for 2027 Cup season

Ty Gibbs is on the pole for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Cup Series race on June 28 at Sonoma Raceway.
Gibbs is joined by Carson Hocevar on the front row. Shane van Gisbergen starts 6th, aiming to repeat as the winner at the 1.9-mile road course in northern California.
The race also serves as the first round of the NASCAR in-season challenge tournament. 32 drivers are paired into head-to-head matchups, with the best finisher from the Sonoma race advancing to the next round.
Here's the full starting lineup and TV information for Sunday's NASCAR race at Sonoma.
SONOMA RACE PICKS: NASCAR Sonoma predictions 2026, expert picks for Cup Series race

Trackhouse Racing will lead the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for the race at San Diego in June. Shane van Gisbergen won the pole for the 2026 Andruil 250 at San Diego this weekend. Carson Hocevar will join van Gisbergen on the front row for Sunday afternoon's event. It is van Gisbergen's second pole position of the 2026 season.
Ryan Blaney and Zane Smith will follow the two drivers on the second row. Most notably, Alex Bowman, Kevin Magnussen, Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Jimmie Johnson, and Christopher Bell will all start 20th or worse for Sunday afternoon's event. Hocevar, Preece, Keselowski, and Wallace all had issues on their runs.
The full NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at San Diego in June 2026 is below!
No. 97 Shane van Gisbergen
No. 77 Carson Hocevar

Tyler Reif was just one chicane away from an emotional victory in San Diego, but instead, the 19-year-old is left to wonder what could have been.
Making just his seventh career start with a previous best finish of ninth, Reif suddenly found himself battling for the win when Kaden Honeycutt and Chandler Smith collided in an overtime restart.
Reif fought off Daniel Hemric in a contact-filled battle, taking the white flag with smoke billowing from his No. 42 Chevrolet. If he held on for just one more lap, he would have been just the third driver ever to deliver Niece Motorsports a Truck Series win, with the other two being Cup stars Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar.
But he had Layne Riggs all over him, and entering the final chicane on the last lap, Reif missed his entry and had to cut the corner, slamming doors with Riggs as the win slipped away Per NASCAR rules, you have to come to a complete stop after missing the chicane, so his shot the win was over the moment he failed to stay to the left of the tire bundle.
Reif was scored 19th, and the shouts of his family could be heard on the background of the broadcast as the difficult loss played out in real-time.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. warning will have Carson Hocevar worried after Nashville incident

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