Carson Hocevar incident ruined NASCAR playoff star’s night

Carson Hocevar has courted controversy throughout the 2025 NASCAR season, and he was still a big storyline after the postseason got underway in Darlington on Sunday night.

The man they now call ‘Hurricane’ may not be involved in the battle for Cup Series playoff glory, but he was still central to a major flashpoint at the Cook Out Southern 500.

Hocevar had enjoyed high-profile beef with Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ryan Blaney and Zane Smith already this season (among others), and this time it was Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing who was in the other corner.

Bell’s No. 20 Toyota suffered major damage as he exited his pit box and collided with the incoming Hocevar in the process. He would never recover from the incident and eventually finished in 31st position.

Now 10th in the playoff standings and just 11 points above the cutline, Bell was exasperated post-race as he talked about the incident with Hocevar.

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Christopher Bell on Hocevar collision

He told Tim Moore: “He didn’t give way. I would say it’s our responsibility to not run into him if he’s racing for position, but the fact that he was the one who brought the yellow out, the only reason that we had contact was because he was so far behind the field catching up. That’s very frustrating.”

Bell said he didn’t believe Hocevar deserved the majority of the blame, instead likely a lack of communication from his Spire Motorsports team led to the collision.

“Honestly, I don’t really give blame to Carson. I think it’s more on his team to let him know the circumstances, that he’s pitted on an island with all the playoff cars, he just spun right out the yellow, he’s not gonna gain a spot on pit road, and he didn’t give way and ruined my night. So it’s a bummer.”

Will Bell tackle Hocevar?

When asked if he would be speaking to Hocevar this week about the incident, Bell responded: “I need to make sure that I dot my i’s and cross my t’s and understand what fully happened.

"But the picture that I see, he wasn’t gonna gain a spot on pit road, he should have been able to give way to the playoff cars.”

READ MORE: NASCAR officials penalize multiple playoff stars at Darlington

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