In the wake of news that Carson Hocevar has been disciplined internally by Spire Motorsports, the driver of the No. 77 car has once again reached out to apologize for his comments about Mexico. Hocevar tweeted a lengthy statement on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, Spire had issued a press release detailing some internal discipline for Hocevar. In addition to paying a $50,000 fine — with proceeds set to go to charitable Mexican organizations — Hocevar will undergo sensitivity and bias training.
In his own words, though, Hocevar is quite remorseful for his comments. In addition to questioning the quality of the infrastructure in Mexico, Hocever had remarked on a live Twitch stream that Mexico was “such a s***hole.”
“Whoa everybody, the truth is the truth,” Hocevar wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening. “I said something that not only was wrong, I said it without even laying my own two eyes on CDMX or turning one lap in an actual race at an amazing facility that welcomed me with open arms and I go and say that? Thank you for the support but I’m not sure we’re on the same page.”
The driver of the No. 77 car has been under some intense scrutiny since the incident. And in addition to the comments off the track, Carson Hocevar ran into issues on the track, notably getting into a confrontation with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after spinning the driver of the No. 77 car.
Suffice it to say, he is feeling the heat. He opened up on that in the second part of his statement.
“You guys want me to be me?” Hocevar asked. “It was me who said it and it was me who apologized after actually taking the time to explore the city and feel the passion of every fan in attendance. I appreciate the opportunity to learn and I knew before this weekend what respect means to this organization and I didn’t meet the standard so I got what I deserved.”
As far as a forward-looking perspective, Carson Hocevar provided that too. He seems set to learn from the whole ordeal.
“I hate learning these lessons in the public eye and bringing any negative attention to Spire or me,” he wrote. “We’ve been fast just about every week and I’m sure I have plenty of mistakes left in me. I appreciate growing up in front of all of you and you guys get to see the good and the bad.
“I’m just me. I’m trying. It just doesn’t always go the way I want and I bring a lot of this on myself. However, I love being in this garage, with this team surrounded by the best drivers and fans in the world. See you in Pocono.”
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