NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series-Practice and Qualifying Sep 6, 2025 Madison, Illinois, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 11 looks on during practice and qualifying for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Madison World Wide Technology Raceway Illinois USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJoexPuetzx 20250906_tbs_pa2_024 ©IMAGO/Imagn Images Vikrant Damke Tue, October 20, 2026 at 6:04 PM UTC · 5 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Denny Hamlin needed a break at Phoenix, and he wasn't particularly concerned about how it came. A flat tire and pit-road speeding penalty had left the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran a lap down, desperately needing a caution to get back on the lead lap. One controversial Cup Series driver came dangerously close to delivering exactly what Hamlin wanted, and the veteran couldn't help but root for him to take things one step further. What happened next left Hamlin wishing things had gone just a little differently to be the Lucky Dog on the track.
"Well, I saw Carson take a major swipe at the one mid corner and miss. As someone that was sitting in the lucky dog position, I was like, 'Please, wreck. Come on. Just Carson, I'm rooting for you. Just do Carson things here,'" Denny Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
The exchange between Hocevar and Chastain quickly gave Hamlin reason to believe something could happen. He watched Hocevar take a major swipe at Chastain in the middle of a corner and miss. Chastain then sent the No. 77 toward Turn 3, but Hamlin was struck by what Hocevar did next. The Spire Motorsports driver did not appear to slow down, instead carrying his speed up the track and making contact with Josh Berry and Zane Smith.
Although the contact did not appear to cause significant damage to either car, it had consequences beyond the track position lost in the incident. Smith was already no fan of Hocevar, and the latest contact only added to their strained relationship.
Denny Hamlin's candid admission reveals the mind games and respect brewing behind NASCAR's most polarizing rivalries. Subscribe for the unfiltered drama reshaping the Cup Series.
After the checkered flag, Smith drove into the rear of Hocevar's car on the cooldown lap, turning an on-track dispute into a post-race confrontation. Smith's team had told him that Chastain pushed Hocevar into him during the earlier incident, but that explanation did little to cool his anger.
The hostility between Smith and Hocevar did not emerge overnight. Their clashes stretch back to the lower national series, including an incident at Iowa in 2025 that left Smith in the wall. Their disagreements carried into 2026 at Chicagoland, with Smith publicly criticizing Hocevar's driving style.
Against that backdrop, the Phoenix contact was unlikely to settle anything between them. Instead, it reinforced how Hocevar's aggressive approach can draw other drivers into a dispute, even when they are not the original target.
And Smith is hardly the only driver who has grown frustrated with Hocevar. At Darlington in September, contact with Brad Keselowski sent the RFK Racing driver spinning.
Hocevar has often defended his approach as hard racing. However, critics argue that he sometimes leaves too little room for other drivers to avoid a collision. Hamlin has expressed similar concerns after a similar incident involving Hocevar with Blaney at Bristol.
With 43 laps left in the race, Ryan Blaney was running second after leading a race-high 202 laps. Carson Hocevar attempted a crossover move, but contact with Blaney sent the Ford into the outside wall, ending his night with a 33rd-place finish.
Denny Hamlin had then criticized Hocevar's decision-making and described his approach as choosing the "nuclear option." He suggested that Hocevar was too willing to accept a wreck rather than back out of a dangerous situation. That earlier criticism makes Hamlin's Phoenix admission all the more ironic.
The NASCAR veteran had questioned the consequences of Hocevar's aggressive driving. Yet this time he was hoping those same tendencies would produce the caution he desperately needed. It was not necessarily an endorsement of Hocevar's conduct. Hamlin was simply looking for a way to get his own race back on track.
Unfortunately for Hamlin, the incident did not deliver the break he wanted. The caution he was hoping for never came, and he remained a lap down on his way to a 28th-place finish. The result was another blow to his championship campaign.
Hamlin entered the Chase as the regular-season's top seed, but Phoenix left him fourth in the standings, 31 points behind Kyle Larson with just three races remaining. Christopher Bell sat five points behind Larson, Chase Briscoe was 24 back, and Hamlin had several drivers still within striking distance ahead of the final stretch.
That context explains why Hamlin was willing to root for chaos, even from a driver whose methods he has criticized. Hamlin's "just do Carson things" plea may have been delivered with a hint of humor. But behind it was a veteran desperate for one break in a Chase that had offered him very few.
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