Monday Morning Pit-Stop is a weekly NASCAR column that runs on OutKick.com and Fox News Digital. If you’re looking for a normal NASCAR recap, go check out insufferable ESPN … assuming they still know NASCAR exists.
Last week, Carson Hocevar told me he didn’t expect any drama in The Chase.
I asked him, point blank, if he felt like he had any enemies on the track, or if he felt like he was driving around with a target on his back.
This, of course, came after months of NASCAR drama — all culminating in a recently launched relationship with a TikTok influencer who was starting to ruffle some feathers around the garage.
“I think it’s good for TV and merch sales at times, but I don’t think so,” Hocevar told me when I asked him about other drivers coming after him.
“You know, I’ve had people try to wreck me and they just end up wrecking themselves lately. So I don’t foresee anybody really having to, you know, wanting to do anything like that that where I would have to really be worried about it.
“So, yeah, I mean, I’m not really worried about.”
Carson, buddy, it’s time to start worrying. If your head wasn’t on a swivel before Darlington, it HAS to be on one now.
Welcome to a Labor Day edition of Monday Morning Pit-Stop! We’re gonna keep this one brief today because A) it’s a holiday, B) it’s a holiday, and C) I’ve got meat to smoke … because it’s a holiday.
We’re gonna dive into Carson’s antics last night at Darlington here in just a minute.
We’ll also get into Ryan Blaney putting another few dollars in NASCAR’s new ‘Swear Jar,’ Dale Jarrett got a nice little Sunday night wakeup call, and Hooters Gianna Blaney gave us one final summer photo dump from the pool.
And what a summer it was!
Four tires, enough fuel to get us to Gateway, and maybe some secret service protection for Carson … Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the ‘Watch Out, Carson’ edition — is LIVE!
Look, I’m not gonna break down the race. It’s a holiday, and it was a relatively “meh” finish.
OK, we all caught up? Good! Now, let’s check in with Carson and Brad Keselowski:
Thoughts? First impressions?
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.”
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.”
That’s an actual social media post from Brad Keselowski’s RFK racing team, if you were wondering how the rest of the garage felt about Carson Hocevar.
They hate him.
By the way, they also hated Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski back in the day. I can remember a time when those two were HATED. Kyle especially.
Carson Hocevar is young and stupid. He’s got a hot TikTok influencer girlfriend. He was just told he’s the most popular driver on the circuit. He won at Talladega earlier this year, and he’s in the Chase.
He’s good for NASCAR. He also needs some humbling. Both things can be true.
PS: Massive sale going on over at Carson’s pro shop right now!
Amazing. The kid doesn’t care. Can’t wait to see the fight in a few weeks!
OK, let’s put the pedal to the floor and get on outta here … it’s a HOLIDAY.
First up? NASCAR has a new initiative where they are going to put $5 in a swear jar over these next 10 weeks every time a driver cusses over the radio.
That’s A LOT, by the way. These guys are disgusting over the radio in the heat of battle. Trust me.
Anyway, if you can guess how much money is in the jar by the end, you, apparently, get ALL of it!
Hat’s off to NASCAR. I give them a bunch of crap (rightfully so), but this is a smart promotion. Perhaps they took a page out of Carson’s WWE playbook?
Also … what a liner there from Angry Ryan Blaney!
“Christ, it’s f—ing plowing my d–k off.”
That’s $10, by my count!
Next? Let’s check in with Dale Jarrett on the way out:
Amazing. That gif, I assume, will get some good play this football season. It’s not often that 40 stock cars can sneak up on you, but Dale was genuinely taken aback here.
No clue what he was doing, but I’m glad the cameras were rolling. Well done.
OK, that’s it for today. Some solid laboring on Labor Day, everyone. Let’s go have a big week.
Take us into it, Gianna Blaney!
