Carson Hocevar’s caution play on Harrison Burton in Nashville proved costly.
NASCAR fined Hocevar $50,000 and penalized him 25 points after he deliberately spun Burton on the backstretch after a caution flag waved.
Brad Keselowski crashed into the wall after contact with Austin Dillon in Turns 1 and 2. As the field slowed after the crash with 58 laps to go, Hocevar took some of his frustration out on Burton.
Hocevar was not penalized during the race, even though NASCAR race control had penalized Layne Riggs two laps for reckless driving during Friday night’s Truck Series race. Decisions aren’t always consistent among officials in NASCAR’s three major series, but it was still a bit jarring to see Riggs penalized while Hocevar escaped penalty in the race.
Hocevar finished 16th after the chaotic finish to five overtimes on Sunday. Joey Logano won the race after running out of fuel for more than 100 laps. Burton finished 28th to continue what has been a miserable year. He is 33rd in the points standings.
Hocevar was 22nd before the penalty and is now 24th and 181 points out of the final playoff spot. Hocevar will need to win one race in the final seven races of the regular season to make the playoffs, and that’s a lot easier said than done given his two top-10 finishes and three laps led in the first 19 races of the season.
In any case, the points penalty could be decisive in the Rookie of the Year race. Hocevar is now 50 points behind Josh Berry as the top rookie in the points standings.
(tags to translate)Carson Hocevar
