Carson Hocevar is ruffling feathers again in NASCAR Cup Series action in 2026 - making a ton of enemies AND friends along the way.

The sport’s fanbase for the most part loves the 23-year-old phenom from Portage, Michigan but his rival drivers, not so much.

Hocevar hit the headlines for a string of on-track flashpoints during 2025, and he’s started 2026 in similar fashion.

After a gallant effort in defeat at the Daytona 500 (where he led on the final lap before being wrecked), Hocevar was at the center of a major controversy in Atlanta on Sunday.

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Hocevar causes Atlanta controversy

Again going for the win, ‘Hurricane’ went for an overtime gap that wasn’t really there between Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell. The result was Hocevar once again being on the stand as a defendant in the court of public opinion.

Current NASCAR great Denny Hamlin was pretty vocal in his take, telling his Actions Detrimental podcast: “It’s tough to watch. The media loves it, by the way. If you want to see what the media thinks, just ask them and they’ll tell you, ‘Ah, we love Hocevar’. Well, no question you do because he’s giving you some content for you to talk about. As a competitor, though, like, eventually, it’s going to come back around.

“He’ll be in a position where he thinks he’s about to win and someone will decide he’s not going to and that’s gonna suck for him and his team on that day. But, you’re never gonna get anyone to give you a break when you clearly won’t give anyone else a break.”

Hamlin is absolutely right about one thing, the media loves Hocevar right now. He provides thrills and spills. And he does with with an IDGAF attitude that wins fans on and off track.

His undoubted talent is also winning him praise from some of the true greats of the sport - with the latest being NASCAR legend Richard Petty.

Richard Petty compares Hocevar to Dale Earnhardt

The seven-time Cup series champion might have paid Hocevar the greatest compliment of all in the wake of that Atlanta controversy - comparing him to the late, great Dale Earnhardt.

Earnhardt of course was a man who took absolutely no prisoners during his glittering career, and he was still able to thrive and win despite that fact.

Petty says Hocevar will also have to go through a similar learning curve, but he is awed by the young man’s speed and raw talent.

Speaking on social media, he said: “That boy in the #77. He has him a time.

“A lot of things he’s getting by with, or doing, is not really that wrong.

“If I go back and watch him run and stuff, he reminds me of Dale Earnhardt.

“Earnhardt learned to get by with that stuff - that boy in the #77, he’s just gonna have to learn to get by with the things that he’s doing.”

When it was pointed out that Hocevar might struggle to win a race given the fact he appears to be making zero friends on the grid, Petty refused to back down.

“Earnhardt never made no friends either, okay?,” he responded.

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