"Always gonna be his fault?" - Kevin Harvick on alleged blame game surrounding Carson Hocevar’s rookie year

Kevin Harvick showed his support to Carson Hocevar amid the reportedly hostile environment against him in NASCAR. Hocevar, who is racing in his first season in the Cup Series, has allegedly been subjected to a lot of criticism from fellow drivers and experts.

Hocevar, who was in the Truck Series, joined the Cup Series in a full-time seat for Spire Motorsports this year. In doing so, he skipped the feeder series to NASCAR, the Xfinity Series.

During the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the #77 driver was involved in a wreck involving Ryan Blaney and Jimmie Johnson on Lap 109. While the Spire Motorsports driver cannot be blamed directly for the wreck, Blaney vented out his frustration towards him for causing it.

Commenting on the issue, Harvick said on the Happy Hour podcast:

“I don’t think Hocevar is doing anything wrong. He’s clearly in the middle of the race track and the #12 comes down on him. But with as many guys that are frustrated with Hocevar, at this point it’s always going to be his fault because it seems like he’s in the middle of a lot of things." (00:03-00:18)

Blaney and Johnson retired from the race immediately while Carson Hocevar went on to finish the race in 12th position. The 21-year-old is currently in 24th place in the regular season standings with 383 points after 22 races and is not in contention for the playoffs.

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2024 is Carson Hocevar's character-building year, said Kevin Harvick

Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 2024 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

While Ryan Blaney and Noah Gragson reportedly called Carson Hocevar out after the Brickyard 400, Kevin Harvick offered a different perspective.

He said on his Happy Hour podcast:

"I just listen. I listen to all the guys that just talk about Hocevar, and they make these kinds of comments towards the way that he’s doing things, and the way that he’s going about it, but I think a lot of that comes with your rookie year, and when you’re a guy that stands on the gas and is worried about going forward and trying to go fast, you’re going to have some of these moments,” Harvick stated. (29:11-29:32)

“So, he’s definitely in a character-building year. He’s still having (bright moments), but they’re getting harder, because guys just keep cutting him less and less slack, because they feel like they’re getting run into, in situations that they shouldn’t be getting run into." (29:35-29:52)

Hocevar is currently going through a strange situation where he is receiving flak week in and week out. NASCAR slapped him with a $50000 fine and a deduction of 25 driver points for wrecking Harrison Burton three weeks ago. It will be interesting to see if the #77 Spire Motorsports driver can come out of this loop anytime soon.