In the immediate aftermath of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, Bubba Wallace approached Carson Hocevar for a private conversation atop the outside pit wall.
It lasted around five minutes, was respectful and cordial, and ended with appreciative shoulder slaps.
“He’s fast,” Wallace told a media scrum after the conversation. “He’s fast, and he deserves to be in Victory Lane multiple times out here, but making mistakes is going to cost him, and he hasn’t realized that yet.”
On Sunday, those perceived mistakes included a crash on a Lap 83 restart when Hocevar tagged the rear of John Hunter Nemechek, who then bounced off Wallace, who himself then bounced off Ty Gibbs.
The contact with Gibbs resulted in contact with championship leader Tyler Reddick, Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, who then crashed hard and out of the race. Reddick slid down the track into the direct path of Austin Dillon, who had nowhere to go.
Dillon was sharp in his criticism.
“We almost got through it,” Dillon said after being released from infield care. “I saw the (Denny Hamlin) coming down. I kind of gassed up to get past him, but (Reddick) was there.
“I’m frustrated because we had a fast car. I hope at some point he (Hocevar) figures it out, but I know I’m not going to show anything to him for a long time. I’m mad because we had a fast race car. That truly sucks”
Immediately after the crash, Dillon’s grandfather and team owner respondly even more harshly.
“Yeah. Any time their eyes are that close together, it means they’ve got a small brain,” Childress said over the team radio.
But again, Wallace took a more diplomatic approach after the race in talking to Hocevar in person.
“I was pissed. He’s playing the game, the point by – letting me and Larson by, and (Erik Jones) by was nice, but doesn’t ease the pain,” Wallace said. “That’s what I told him. It’s like you have to … I don’t know if you’re doing that on purpose, but you’re having to do that because like, ‘oh man, I wrecked that guy earlier. I wrecked him last week. I gotta just stop hitting shit.’ You can race to your potential.”
For his part, Hocevar said he was receptive to the message.
“Yeah, I get his point and perspective and everything,” Hocevar said. “I mean, I’m just racing really hard, and there were times where I tried to make a move and get two spots when I probably should have just got one, and it cost me – especially almost wrecking myself in (Turns) 3 and 4 there early in the race when I was next to him. So yeah, just a bummer today, obviously.”
For what it’s worth, Spire Motorsports team co-owner Jeff Dickerson said after the race that he didn’t want Hocevar to change. He said he didn’t see anything wrong with the way his young driver approached the race.
Dickerson said he frankly didn’t understand the criticism coming from the other drivers.
Hocevar finished the race in fifth behind Larson, Wallace and Jones and was more disappointed that he didn’t win at him home track, one day after his mom’s birthday, more than anything else.
“Yeah, I mean, this one’s going to sting,” Hocevar said. “I would have really liked to have this one, just because of how good our car was. It’s just probably just going to eat me up watching (Hamlin) come in my rearview, drive by me and then drive away, and then have a car in between us.”
