By Outkick Sports
First of all, Brad didn’t just spin, as Hocevar says with a s–tgrin on his face 14 times. That’s obviously false. Hocevar washed up the track and got into Brad, which caused the spin.
Now, here’s where I veer a bit with the rest of the pitchfork crowd today …
He barely — and I mean barely — tapped him. You have to squint to see it. If anything, it looks like he really just got Brad loose enough to spin him out. I don’t think it was intentional. I think it was a mistake on Carson’s part, and he’s too embarrassed/proud to admit it.
“His day’s coming and it’s coming hard. Watch out, Carson.”
Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, and Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, talk on the grid during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on May 25, 2024. (Getty Images)
You don’t hear Brad Keselowski talk like that often — not this version of Brad, at least. He was hot, and I get it. At some point over the next few weeks, he’s going to end Carson Hocevar’s day. This sport has a way of policing itself, and you will see it unfold.
Now, the question becomes … is this good for NASCAR?
Of course it is. It’s great for NASCAR.
The series desperately needs a villain, and they have one in Carson Hocevar. He’s also an extremely popular villain, given he LEADS the series in merchandise sales right now.
Hocevar talked to me a lot last week about the state of the sport, and even compared it, to a degree, to WWE.
“They don’t understand the new guys,” Hocevar said when asked about balancing old and new NASCAR fans. “‘This guy is popular, and I don’t understand why.’ A lot of my friends, some of them love WWE and all the intricacies of that world. But the casuals of it, they’re like, ‘Man, I loved Stone Cold when he walked out. I never even watched him wrestle, but I liked him, and the Undertaker and their shticks.
“It’s very similar to how NASCAR fans describe everything and become negative to everything. A lot of times, they’re not sure what they’re looking for.”
