Carson Hocevar will be a spectator for the NASCAR Championship Weekend race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The Spire Motorsports driver has been suspended by his team for brake-checking Austin Cindric during the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday.
Hocevar was seen slowing down abruptly in front of Cindric’s car on the straight and the car’s telemetry data confirmed that he slammed on the brakes in an unusual spot on the track for no apparent reason.
The front of Cindric’s car was seriously damaged and he had to retire from the race. Hocevar didn’t admit to doing anything wrong in his post-race interview, saying, “I think that’s just Martinsville, I think we were having fun.” It’s not entirely clear what led to the incident.
“A decision like this has a lot of variables and a cascading effect across an organization like ours,” Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in a team statement. “The easy thing would have been to leave this in NASCAR’s hands and let them decide what any penalty should be. To us, however, this isn’t about money or points. We believe in respect. Our integrity matters. This is the right decision for Spire Motorsports.”
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Hocevar apologized to the team in a social media post. “This is an embarrassing day for me. I let people down that gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to drive a Cup car,” he said. “I gave Jeff and Spire Motorsports no option but to put someone else in the 77 car this weekend at Homestead.”
NASCAR followed up the Spire Motorsports announceent by fining Hocevar $100,000 and docking him 25 driver points. Hocevar qualified for The Chase and is currently 12th in the standings, but has already been eliminated from championship contention.
Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry was also fined $50,000 and penalized 25 points for brake-checking Cindric’s teammate Ryan Blaney during the race. NASCAR said that Hocevar’s fine was higher because he has been cited for “multiple violations of the code of conduct” this season.
This story has been updated with additional information
