"Just block out the noise": Kevin Harvick shares his word of advice for Carson Hocevar following Atlanta controversy

Former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick recently gave his take on Carson Hocevar. The Spire Motorsports driver found himself to be on the wrong side of affairs after the Cup race at Atlanta as he got confronted by his rivals in turn.

Hocevar's aggressive driving style during the race left many of his rivals like Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney frustrated with him. After the race, the Spire Motorsports driver emphasized on his stance regarding the controversy, claiming he won't apologize for having intentions to win a race.

Speaking about Hocevar, Kevin Harvick encourage the Spire driver to 'keep standing on the gas.' The former SHR driver said that as long as he has shoulders big enough to take criticism and all that comes with it, he should do it.

Harvick's theory was that if Hocevar can learn by being up front, he would learn anyway, and should be willing take chances that can lead to race wins. He mentioned that in the Next Gen car, the aggressive driver usually has an advantage, something Hocevar doesn't lack as he continued:

"It's going to bite him. There’s going to be some times where he has got four or five guys mad at him after the race. There is no better way to learn. Why would you not want to learn by being in the front, racing against the guys that are winning the races and running up front?" [21:30]

Kevin Harvick claimed that Hocevar would have to 'take a lot' because of what he did in the race at Atlanta. He remarked that the Spire driver, while taking responsibility for his mistakes, needs to 'not back up' unlike Ross Chastain.

"You have to be able to balance all that and still be able to have that aggressive nature and make those aggressive moves. But you gotta clean some of the mistakes up. You can't keep making the same mistakes. I don't think he's going to do that personally. I think he's very talented but I would advise to just block out the noise and keep that pedal down," Harvick added. [22:14]

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Kevin Harvick praised Carson Hocevar for his progress in his rookie season in 2024

Amid Carson Hocevar's rookie season in 2024, Kevin Harvick praised the young driver for his improvements. While Hocevar didn't win any races in his first season, he had 8 finishes inside the top 20 by the mid-way mark of the season.

Harvick mentioned on his podcast in 2024 that Hocevar was 'very fast' in everything that he'd driven up until that point last season.

"He’s good. The thing I like about Carson Hocevar is, he’s learning and finishing. He’s not spinning out and driving over his head, which I think a lot of people thought he was going to do, me being one of them, on much more of an occasion than he has," Harvick described.

Kevin Harvick also gave credit to Carson Hocevar for 'tempering his speed' with regards to taking the car in the right direction and finishing races.