Bob Pockrass

FOX NASCAR Insider

NASCAR fined Carson Hocevar $50,000 and docked him 25 points for intentionally spinning Harrison Burton under caution during the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway.

The Spire Motorsports rookie, who earned a reputation of questionable retaliatory moves during his truck career, had stayed relatively out of the limelight this season while running a very respectable 22nd in the standings.

But after the caution flew during the final stage Sunday, Hocevar appeared to accelerate to get to the rear bumper of Burton. Burton possibly hit the brakes and Hocevar continued to run into Burton, turning him toward the wall.

Burton was able to continue in the race.

While NASCAR gave a two-lap penalty to truck series driver Layne Riggs for reckless driving during the truck race Friday, NASCAR officials are hesitant to penalize drivers in the moment if they are not totally convinced that an action was taken on purpose. 

NASCAR opted not to penalize Hocevar in the moment but after reviewing replays, looking at data this week and possibly talking with the drivers involved, it issued the penalty late Tuesday afternoon.

The points deduction drops Hocevar from 22nd in the standings to 24th. For all intents and purposes, he is in a must-win situation over the final eight regular-season races to make the Cup playoffs as he now sits 181 points behind the current cutoff.

Hocevar does have the remainder of the week to decide whether to appeal the penalty. 

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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