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Jeff Gordon Calls Out Recklessness Of Carson Hocevar, Other Spire Motorsports Drivers At Martinsville

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
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Jeff Gordon

Add Jeff Gordon to the chorus of Carson Hocevar critics.

In a season where Hocevar has baffled NASCAR, fellow competitors and even his own team at times, Gordon became the most recent person to throw shade at the oft-controversial Spire Motorsports wheelman.

See what the four-time Cup Series champ had to say about Hocevar’s driving this past weekend at Martinsville Speedway.

How Did Carson Hocevar Get On Jeff Gordon’s Bad Side?

With Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron out front and pulling away in the closing laps of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff elimination race at Martinsville, the last thing Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon or anyone connected with the organization wanted to see was a caution.

A win by Byron would mean a ticket punched to the Championship 4. With anything less, Byron was likely to be eliminated from title contention.

So when Byron surrendered a sizable lead with less than 20 laps to go due to a caution-triggering spin by Carson Hocevar after contact with Spire Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell, Gordon was not amused.

Thankfully for Hendrick Motorsports, Byron still managed to grab the win and Championship 4 berth that came with it. But in that moment when Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevy spun, Gordon couldn’t help but be frustrated.

“Was there any thought of, ‘Come on, guys. Let’s keep it clean here?’” a reporter asked Gordon during a post-press conference.

And with that, Gordon offered a brutally honest response.

“You mean the third time the 77 was in an incident?” he said with a laugh. “I was thinking that, yes. More than three? I don’t know. I lost count.”

Jeff Gordon Was Actually Displeased With Multiple Drivers At Spire

As much as Jeff Gordon clearly is no fan of Carson Hocevar’s aggression, Hocevar wasn’t the only Spire Motorsports driver he took issue with at Martinsville.

“I know for those of us that have been in these (team) meetings, we’re all thinking, ‘Wow, that Monday morning meeting is going to be a tough one over there at Spire,’” Gordon said. “There was a lot of contact. Not just with their current drivers. But one of their future drivers, too.”

The only future Spire driver Gordon could’ve been referring to is Daniel Suarez. The current Trackhouse Racing driver recently agreed to replace current Spire driver Justin Haley in 2026.

While Hocevar’s car was the only one with Spire connections that Gordon mentioned by name, the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver likely found it especially aggravating that two Spire drivers caused the last caution.

After all, Hendrick Motorsports and Spire Motorsports share a technical alliance. And both are Chevrolet teams. But rather than going down that rabbit trail, Gordon decided not to share any more of his feelings about the last caution.

“Yeah, I’ll end it at that,” he said with a smile.

Jared Turner Written by Sports EditorJared Turner
Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.
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