Carson Hocevar has officially become one of those NASCAR drivers you simply cannot ignore.
You can love him.
You can hate him.
But you are probably going to have an opinion about him.
And after Sunday at Darlington, one of NASCAR’s veterans made it pretty clear that Hocevar is starting to get under people’s skin.
Hocevar made contact with Brad Keselowski late in the opening stage, sending the RFK Racing driver around and ending his stage. Keselowski did not exactly shrug it off.
His message to Hocevar afterward was simple.
“Watch out, Carson.”
That is the kind of warning that gets NASCAR fans interested.
Hocevar, meanwhile, kept digging.
He started 34th and somehow drove all the way to 11th by the checkered flag, giving him the second-best Chevrolet finish of the race behind Kyle Larson.
That is the frustrating part for everybody who doesn’t like him.
He keeps showing up.
He keeps running toward the front.
And now he’s doing it in NASCAR’s championship Chase.
Hocevar entered the Chase as one of the sport’s biggest lightning rods, and he admitted before Darlington that he was essentially playing with house money.
Maybe that’s the problem.
He doesn’t seem particularly interested in making friends.
And NASCAR might have accidentally created its next superstar villain.
Because whether you want to admit it or not, everybody is starting to watch Carson Hocevar.
