NASCAR Fines Hocevar $100K Over History of On-Track Incidents

NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer confirmed Tuesday that Carson Hocevar’s history of on-track incidents is the reason his $100,000 fine was double the amount given to Josh Berry for a similar infraction.

Hocevar was penalized for repeatedly brake-checking Austin Cindric during the November 1 race at Martinsville Speedway.

Berry was fined $50,000 for brake-checking Ryan Blaney in the same race.

Both drivers lost 25 driver points.

Sawyer explained the discrepancy during an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“As we reviewed both of those incidents, and you look at the 77, and with Carson being in situations before where we've had behavioral situations and penalties, we've had discussion with him,” Sawyer said.

“We just felt like after reviewing all of the data and the audio, that this one rose to a level that it needed to be more than just the $50,000 that Josh got, and the 25 points for both,” Sawyer continued.

NASCAR kept the points penalty identical for both drivers to maintain consistency with past rulings.

“As we looked at it, trying to be as consistent as we've been in the past on the points side of it, and we landed on, with both of them, 25,” Sawyer said.

“Again, the difference being the monetary side of it, and we felt like that would have more of an impact than, you know, the points side of it.”

The data collected from Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet showed four hard brake applications on the straightaways directly in front of Cindric’s No. 2 Ford.

Hocevar’s spotter, Tyler Green, could be heard on the team radio telling him to stop.

Spire Motorsports did not wait for NASCAR to act.

The team announced on November 3 that it had suspended Hocevar for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, scheduled for November 8.

Justin Haley, a NASCAR veteran and former Spire driver, will pilot the No. 77 car in Hocevar’s place.

“A decision like this has a lot of variables and a cascading effect across an organization like ours,” Spire Motorsports said in a statement.

“The easy thing would have been to leave this in NASCAR’s hands … To us, however, this isn’t about money or points. We believe in respect. Our integrity matters.”

Hocevar released his own statement, calling the suspension “an embarrassing day” for him.

“I let the people down that gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to drive a Cup car,” he wrote.

“I crossed the line with my on-track actions and gave [owner] Jeff [Dickerson] and Spire Motorsports no option but to put someone else in the 77 car this weekend.”

Hocevar, 23, has become one of NASCAR’s more popular drivers during the 2026 season.

He earned his first career Cup Series win at Talladega on April 26.

He also advanced to NASCAR’s postseason for the first time in his career this year.

But his season has been marked by numerous incidents involving other drivers.

Hocevar was involved in a viral brawl at Bristol in September.

His aggressive driving style has drawn criticism from fans and fellow competitors alike.

Sawyer addressed why it took NASCAR two days to issue the penalty.

Some fans and others in the sport questioned the delay.

Sawyer said NASCAR wants to improve its ability to make these calls while the race is still ongoing.

“The world that we live in today with the amount of data we can pull off the cars and go back and review that, you know, we can make better decisions,” Sawyer said in a second clip from the SiriusXM interview.

“The one thing that I would add, something that we're looking at, is how we can do a better job, we as NASCAR do a better job, and officiate this within the race,” he added.

Sawyer credited NASCAR’s production facility and its team for getting closer to having that data available in real time.