Hocevar Downplays Watkins Glen Incident With Teammate McDowell

Originally posted on Racing America on SI
By Toby Christie | Last updated Aug 14, 2025 10:51 AM ET

Jonathan McCoy | Racing America On SI

Carson Hocevar and Michael McDowell, his Spire Motorsports teammate, got together several times in the closing laps of last Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen. Hocevar, usually the aggressor, got spun by his teammate McDowell early in the final Stage of the race, which forced Hocevar to battle hard, without the aid of a caution, to collect an 18th-place finish following a hard-fought last-lap battle with McDowell.

After the two drivers made contact several times on the final lap of the race, Hocevar told his team on the radio, "I don't want to talk to [McDowell], look at him, do not let him near me."

In a media availability on Wednesday, Hocevar confirmed that the two drivers did not talk post-race at Watkins Glen International, and as both had additional plans this week, they haven't spoken to each other yet, but that they plan to heading into the race weekend at Richmond Raceway.

“No, we haven’t talked or whatever. He wanted to sit down and talk at Richmond. I’m gone racing, and he’s gone as well. Maybe it’s the best-case scenario that we’re both gone,” Hocevar said.

While the drivers are expected to hash out any differences that they have before taking to the track this weekend, Hocevar downplayed the late race run-ins with his teammate.

Here is on-board footage of the initial incident between the two drivers, which led to Hocevar spinning out in Turn 1:

Contact between @SpireMotorsport teammates. pic.twitter.com/A93Oou7pTU
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 10, 2025

“It didn’t seem like that big of a deal to me," Hocevar admitted. "Either he made a mistake, or he misjudged, and you know, obviously, turned me. Then, we were just fighting for the last lap and last corner. Felt like that was plenty okay to do, considering the contact, that I could play defense for one corner to try to get the spot.”

Here is the last-lap battle between Hocevar and McDowell:

Here is a video of a pissing match between teammates Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar at the end of the race at The Glen. Earlier in the race, Hocevar got sent spinning by McDowell in T1. It all ended with this aggressive battle for 18th. https://t.co/jqRinBtnnX
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) August 11, 2025

As far as why he was so aggressive with McDowell in that spirited last-lap dash to the finish, Hocevar said the only thing on his mind was securing a better qualifying draw, which is determined by NASCAR's performance metric, for Richmond Raceway.

“I think [with] Richmond being the next week, with the qualifying draw being so important, that one spot, I think, matters a lot for qualifying. Especially for how tough that place is to pass, but also, it’s super easy to go a lap down at that place,” Hocevar explained. “Qualifying means everything, and especially going out late, you’re going to have a massive advantage.”

Don't expect the hard feelings to continue to fester between Hocevar and McDowell like has happened between Hocevar and any other driver he has feuded with in the past. Expect that the teammates will likely squash any beef that they have this weekend in a Spire Motorsports hauler, and that will be that.

This article first appeared on Racing America on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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