When a driver talks about Hocevar in 2026, there’s a pretty good chance that there is going to be an explicit comment alongside his name. And Kevin Harvick has a very stern warning for him. Whether it be a harmless PR video on YouTube or a post-race interview, NASCAR drivers are making sure that he knows his reputation amongst them. According to Kevin Harvick, Hocevar’s ‘bullying’ awaits a special outcome in the upcoming races.

Kevin Harvick recalls his own tactics to resolve the situation

During the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, the hosts were hooked on the controversial story that Hocevar is writing this season. There is not a driver on the grid who is not against him. This pretty much feels like a replay of last year’s Atlanta. The veteran drivers’ anger and open criticism made him apologize profusely. The co-host of the show, Mamba Smith, is trying to find out if the teams and drivers will eventually do something about Hocevar.

“I think we got to the point now where they either need to stop talking about him or do something about it and don’t let him bully you. You’re getting bullied by someone. The problem is they are getting bullied by someone who they don’t think should be bullying them. If this is Kevin Harvick doing it, or a Kevin Harvick-type persona, they’re like, ‘Kevin’s aggressive, and you got to give him the space; you got to know that.’ But they’re like, ‘He shouldn’t be here. ’”

Smith claims that the entire scenario has degraded to the point that there is no respect left for Hocevar anymore. Smith also thinks that Hocevar doesn’t really care about the same anymore. The answer to this situation is only one. In Kevin Harvick’s dictionary, it means crash him out.

“I think the way I would approach it is, I would probably wreck him the first chance I got. When you are trying to get in that position to send in a message, you have to show that aggression to send a message. That was how I would approach it in the past. I don’t think he is doing anything wrong.

“I think he is racing aggressively, but in this deal, when you put people in bad positions over and over, eventually somebody is going to take that method and try to make sure that they send that message to him. ‘Hey, you can do that to everybody else but don’t do it to me.’ So it’ll be interesting to see who does that.”

Nevertheless, they are yet to decide who exactly will be the one to make the first move. In NASCAR, overly aggressive behavior doesn’t really go too far. Ask Noah Gragson, who was smashed like a watermelon in 2023 for angering Ross Chastain. For Carson Hocevar, his sins on track are piling up, and some of the drivers are itching to be his grim reaper.

But before we take any sides, let’s have an honest look at the situation.

Does Carson Hocevar really deserve all the hate?

So an interesting situation happened right before Carson Hocevar earned himself yet another red card from the NASCAR grid. Just a couple of weeks ago, Riley Herbst and Justin Allgaier wrecked nearly half of the field. Allgaier earned backlash from fans, and it all subsided.

As far as Herbst goes, Hamlin is still defending him furiously from the other drivers, mainly Brad Keselowski, who considers Herbst “stupid.”

On the other hand, let’s look at Carson Hocevar instead. He was running in a pretty good spot for the Daytona 500 victory this year. He gets wrecked out, and no one bats an eye. One move on Christopher Bell and suddenly he is enemy number 1 in NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin’s move on Justin Allgaier wasn’t really different at the Daytona 500. But Hamlin was kind enough to shoulder his burden. But well, for Hocevar, there’s no such thing as support. In fact, at this moment, he looks like a lone ranger on track.

Yes, Richard Petty and Kevin Harvick think that he is amazing at what he does and praise his aggression. But here’s what some of the drivers think about him. Denny Hamlin literally calls him an attention seeker on his podcast. “I almost hate that we’re bringing more attention to it because it’s just, I think, he likes that.”

This is just one of the comments from 2026. If we take into account the number of times he has been accused and slammed by other drivers, it is hard to keep count of them. Is this only because Carson Hocevar doesn’t really come from the biggest NASCAR teams? Spire Motorsports is trying to earn itself a spot as a competitive team after all.

Whatever the answer may be, the only result left is the final showdown on track between him and another annoyed driver.