By David G. Firestone
So I was going to write about this last week, but things happened, and I didn’t get around to writing this column. Carson Hocevar was suspended by Spire Motorsports for the Homestead race. This came after he break checked at Martinsville, and was fined by NASCAR as a result.
I’ve not been a fan of Carson Hocevar’s antics. I get that he is aggressive. I get that aggression can win races and championships. With that said, how much is too much? Well, with Carson Hocevar’s 2026 season, we found out. After the fight with Ryan Blaney, that should have been the point where Hocevar should have gotten a stern message from his team, and NASCAR. If he did, it didn’t stick. There is a major difference between racing aggressive, and racing dangerous. Carson Hocevar raced dangerous.
Now, why would Spire Motorsports suspend Carson Hocevar at that point? Well, I would be surprised if the sponsors didn’t have something to do with it. Sponsors do NOT like it when their drivers are getting in trouble with NASCAR. If you need proof of this, look at Kurt Busch. He got fired from most of the big time rides he had, because of his on track and off track antics.
I suspect that one of, if not more, of his sponsors were unhappy, and told Spire to get him under control. After Martinsville, the issue needed to be forced. It was forced, and Carson Hocevar seemed to outwardly understand. Now, we’re going to have to wait until 2027 to see if he does understand, and if it sticks.
Now on to some good news. Our long national nightmare is over, Jamie Little is stepping away from the Truck Series booth! She announced the move on Tuesday, and she framed it as wanting to spend more time with her family. Yeah, more time with her family. Sure, the fact that she is horrid in the booth, and the fans hate her as such didn’t have anything to do with that decision.]
I’m not knocking her as a pit road reporter, she is one of, if not the best in racing. I’m not knocking her as a person, she’s probably a very lovely person. But you can’t look at her work in the booth, and tell me she’s any good. She wasn’t qualified for the position. Being talented in one area doesn’t make you qualified in other areas. If you were an NHL coach, and you had the best goalie in the league, would you take him out of the net, and turn him into a defenseman? No, no you wouldn’t. If you tried it, and it failed miserably, would you switch him back? Yes, yes you would. I’m guessing FOX wanted the contract to expire. Let’s be honest, that’s why she lasted as long as she did.
Hopefully, everyone will learn from this.
