Carson Hocevar has come under fire from NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. after his comments in Kansas last weekend.
Hocevar clinched the Craftsman Truck Series victory at Kansas Speedway after an intense last-lap battle with Layne Riggs. As he crossed the line to take the win, he ranted over the team radio about his rival – something which Earnhardt Jr. has not taken kindly to.
During the Dale Jr. Download podcast, he claimed:
“Riggs is older than him. Is he self-appointing himself some sort of veteran? Y’all heard that s**t. ‘Man, that kid’s gonna win a lot of races.’ What the f**k dude?
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
“You’re a kid. That was a very egotistical move. I think it’s an asinine way to look at things. …I know that Riggs is not in Cup, but in terms of ability, talent, I don’t really set them too far apart. You could put Riggs in the 77 [car] and eventually get reasonable results.”
As well as the team radio comments, the 22-year-old flipped off Riggs. Explaining the action, Hocevar said, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:
“It was somewhat friendly, right? It was just kind…yeah, I don’t remember what I really did to be honest. No, if anything, I just wanted to remind him, really, of just like, hey, I still won, I guess. I don’t know.
“But at the end of the day, he did a really good job. He’s super, super talented. That group built a really fast truck. I remember watching Zane [Smith] go on to win against us in that truck.
“It’s all harm, no foul, and I’m sure my bird is real small to just hit and contact. So, it’s all friendly, and when I see him, I’m sure we’ll laugh about it.”
Riggs also commented:
“He won the race, and you know, I think he was mad at me. I think he flipped me off all the way down the frontstretch coming to the checkered, but how can you be mad when you win the race, right?
“But it’s all good. It’s great to race with them Cup guys, and I think that just proves that I’m going to be there one day.”
Riggs was later disqualified from the race.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kansas Speedway results
- Carson Hocevar – Running
- William Byron – Running
- Corey Heim – Running
- Gio Ruggiero – Running
- Stewart Friesen – Running
- Brandon Jones – Running
- Jake Garcia – Running
- Kaden Honeycutt – Running
- Grant Enfinger – Running
- Daniel Hemric – Running
- Ben Rhodes – Running
- Matt Mills – Running
- Matt Crafton – Running
- Ty Majeski – Running
- Dawson Sutton – Running
- Tyler Ankrum – Running
- Chandler Smith – Running
- Connor Mosack – Running
- Andres Perez – Running
- Toni Breidinger – Running
- Rajah Caruth – Running
- Cody Dennison – Running
- Spencer Boyd – Running
- Jack Wood – Running
- Morgen Baird – Running
- Bayley Currey – Running
- Tanner Gray – Out
- Frankie Muniz – Out
- Nathan Byrd – Out
- Luke Baldwin – Out
- Layne Riggs – Running – Disqualified