Michael McDowell called teammate Carson Hocevar a “young knucklehead” in an interview Monday as quoted by Racing News.
The Spire Motorsports driver was answering Denny Hamlin’s claim that the organization lacks adults, a charge that followed Hocevar’s latest on-track altercation.
Hamlin declined to give Hocevar more attention on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast after Hocevar spun Brad Keselowski in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington in September.
“There’s no adults in the room, clearly. In that building, no adults,” Hamlin said, according to Toby Christie’s coverage. “I think they’re unserious,” he added.
Michael McDowell’s Hocevar Comments Go Viral
“There are a lot of adults at Spire. There are. I understand the comment. I do. I understand what he’s saying, because not everything’s public, right? Nobody knows the conversations that I’m having with Carson behind closed doors,” McDowell said on the “SpeedFreaks” podcast.
“I’m not offended by it either. I mean, we all know what we’re doing,” McDowell continued. “And yeah, we have a young knucklehead driver that likes stirring the pot, right? But for the rest of us, we’re working really hard on trying to make sure that our race cars are going fast and our processes continue to get better and better.”
McDowell also said he told Hocevar, “I know this is hard for you to believe, but I used to be a little bit of a menace, too,” adding, “What makes Carson really good is his aggression. I mean, he’s an incredible talent. He passes like nobody else in the entire field. But with that comes a lot of mistakes.”
McDowell, 41, was born in Phoenix on Dec. 21, 1984, and made his Cup debut at Martinsville in 2008. He won the 2021 Daytona 500 in his 358th start and the 2023 Indianapolis road course race, according to NASCAR.com’s driver profile.
McDowell left Front Row Motorsports for a multiyear Spire deal announced May 8, 2024, taking over the No. 71 Chevrolet in 2025.
Carson Hocevar’s Controversies at Spire Motorsports
Hocevar, 23, was born in Portage, Michigan, on Jan. 28, 2003, and won 2024 Cup Rookie of the Year. Spire signed him to a multiyear deal on Oct. 10, 2023, to drive the No. 77 full time, then extended him on Feb. 5, 2026.
His first Cup win came April 26 at Talladega, a last-lap pass of Chris Buescher in his 91st start, according to The Associated Press.
Veterans including Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain criticized Hocevar’s aggressive style at Atlanta in 2025.
Hocevar and McDowell tangled at Watkins Glen later in 2025, and both called it a miscommunication.
In June 2025, Hocevar used a vulgar term for Mexico City on a Twitch stream. Spire fined him $50,000 and ordered sensitivity training. He later apologized.
Keselowski vowed payback after the Darlington spin. “His day is coming,” he said.
At Bristol on Sept. 19, contact from Hocevar sent Ryan Blaney into the wall, and Hocevar punched Blaney to the ground in a pit-road confrontation afterward. NASCAR issued no penalties for Hocevar.
Jeff Dickerson and T.J. Puchyr founded Spire in 2018 and debuted in the Cup Series in 2019 with the No. 77 Chevrolet. Justin Haley won the rain-shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona that year. Spire now fields three Cup cars, Nos. 7, 71 and 77.
“And yeah, behind closed doors, I think we do a really good job,” McDowell said on Monday.
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