Overview
- This week Michael McDowell publicly pushed back on criticism of Spire Motorsports and described teammate Carson Hocevar as a "young knucklehead" who stirs controversy while saying team discipline mostly happens behind closed doors.
- Hocevar, 23, has drawn repeated ire for on-track aggression, including contact that spun Brad Keselowski at Darlington and an on-track incident with Ryan Blaney at Bristol.
- After Darlington Hocevar posted a 6 percent merchandise discount widely seen as a taunt and after Bristol he offered a 12 percent discount, actions that have amplified tensions beyond the racetrack.
- The Bristol confrontation turned physical on pit road when Hocevar punched Blaney and NASCAR did not issue penalties for those incidents, and the team has previously fined Hocevar for off-track misconduct.
- Spire has kept Hocevar under contract and publicly defended its management as garage criticism and a separate legal dispute with Joe Gibbs Racing over engineer Chris Gabehart continue to shape how the team’s decisions are viewed going into the Phoenix race.