Carson Hocevar has given his perspective on a hot topic that has arisen in NASCAR this week.
Former team-mates Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain got into it at Las Vegas last Sunday, before both taking to various media outlets to admit that their relationship was strained even in the years when they worked alongside each other at Trackhouse Racing.
Hocevar, now Suarez's team-mate at Spire, has a reputation for rubbing people the wrong way with his aggressive racing style, but insisted that he hasn't ever noticed his former team-mates racing him harder than others – not least because he simply hasn't raced that many of them.
He did admit that he and Chastain – who was running a part-time program with Niece Motorsports in the Truck Series while Hocevar was full-time with the team – tend to battle hard, but said that is more a result of their racing styles than any personal animus.
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Hocevar appreciative of Suarez role
Speaking in a media availability session this week, Hocevar said: "It hasn't really been relevant for my sake. You know, I haven't really got a chance to race my team-mates. You know, they're starting that RAM deal and they haven't been super-fast yet or anything, so I haven't been around Justin (Haley).
"I think me and Ross (Chastain) race each other really hard, but I think he's known for racing everybody hard so I’m not getting any special treatment or anything. But no, I don't know. I was off doing stuff, and I was busy. I didn't even know Daniel (Suarez) and Ross got into it, if I'm being honest. So that was news to me.”
He was asked as a follow-up whether there were any team-mates he didn't get on with, much like in Chastain and Suarez's case, and replied: “Well, for my sake, there's been a lot of turnover. You know, even with Niece, like I don't think I've had anybody more than one year.
"And even on the Cup side, I don't think I've had anybody more than one year, except now Michael (McDowell). I just kind of do my own thing anyways. Even if we’re not buddy-buddy, per se, I probably don't talk to him as much as Daniel does.
"Like Daniel and Michael, they get along super well on the prep side because they look at a lot of data, and I look at no data. I have my own way of looking at it. I really like watching real cars go around in circles.
"So with that, even at the superspeedways this year, we've been good and it’s the best on-track feel I've had with team-mates. Daniel's a really good helper, been a good supporter and fit that kind of role of being a team helper here. I'm really buying into that. So I've appreciated him for that.
"But, no, I haven't really had that be an issue yet or anything. You know, there's just been a lot of turnover in Trucks, and even in Cup, the seats next to me have kind of been a revolving door.”
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