Denny Hamlin has changed his tone toward Carson Hocevar after the two NASCAR drivers spoke privately before the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Hamlin had strongly criticized Hocevar and Spire Motorsports after the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
His comments after Gateway, however, showed a different approach. Hamlin said the conversation went well and made clear that he had no fresh complaints about Hocevar.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also said he wanted to keep racing cleanly with the Spire Motorsports driver as they continue to compete around each other during the 2026 NASCAR season.
The private talk came after Hamlin questioned how Spire handled Hocevar’s incident with Brad Keselowski at Darlington.
Denny Hamlin Addresses Carson Hocevar
Denny Hamlin said he decided to speak directly with Carson Hocevar rather than continue the disagreement publicly.
“It was fine. I don’t know, we just had a conversation. I think he listened,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “Yeah, I got nothing bad to say, no negative say. I just wanted to put a few things out there, and I think we’ve raced pretty well together, or, you know, around each other all year, and my goal was to try to keep it that way.”
The comments marked a change from Hamlin’s tone after Darlington. Following Hocevar’s spin of Brad Keselowski, Hamlin focused much of his criticism on Spire Motorsports. He questioned how the team handled the situation and said there were “no adults in the room” at the organization.
This time, Hamlin took his concerns directly to Hocevar.
Carson Hocevar And Denny Hamlin Avoid Trouble At Gateway
The conversation took place before the two drivers competed at World Wide Technology Raceway. Hocevar entered the race with attention around his aggressive driving style, while Hamlin had previously raised concerns about incidents involving the young driver.
The race itself passed without a major incident between them.
Carson Hocevar qualified sixth and finished eighth. Denny Hamlin started 10th and finished ninth. The race featured several cautions and went into overtime, but neither driver became involved in a notable incident with the other.
Hamlin later said his goal was to preserve the way they had raced around each other during the season.
“I think we’ve raced pretty well together,” Hamlin said. “My goal was to try to keep it that way.”
Denny Hamlin Discusses Brad Keselowski’s Gateway Race
Denny Hamlin also discussed Brad Keselowski’s performance at Gateway. The RFK Racing driver started deep in the field but moved toward the front and led 55 laps.
“Great day,” Hamlin said. “I didn’t see how he lost the lead, but they made something their day. And again, a lot of it is the track position, man. If you could just keep it, I don’t know.”
Keselowski remained competitive late in the race but faced a difficult restart situation on older tires.
“They executed a really, really good day until the very, very end,” Hamlin said. “He was on the oldest tires, got shuffled a few times on the restart and finished 12th.”
For Hamlin, though, the discussion with Carson Hocevar was the key development. Rather than continue the dispute in public, Hamlin addressed his concerns privately. The two drivers then completed the Gateway race without a major incident, leaving their previous tension behind as the 2026 NASCAR season moves forward.
NASCAR Driver Denny Hamlin’s Carson Hocevar Problem Takes Surprising Turn After WWT Talk