Spire Motorsports Suspends Carson Hocevar for Season Finale
The 23-year-old driver will sit out the Nov. 8 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway following a dispute over his driving at Martinsville.
By Sarah Montgomery ·
Spire Motorsports suspended Carson Hocevar on Tuesday, removing him from the starting lineup for the final race of the 2026 NASCAR season. The team will field a replacement driver for the event scheduled for Nov. 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The suspension follows a race incident at Martinsville on Nov. 1. Critics accused Hocevar of intentionally spinning his No. 77 car to trigger a caution flag. He also had a physical altercation with Austin Cindric during the event, which added to the controversy surrounding his performance.
Spire Motorsports stated that the decision involved multiple variables and had a cascading effect on the organization. The team said it chose not to leave the matter entirely to NASCAR officials. They emphasized that the decision was about respect and integrity rather than financial points or standings.
“Sometimes the right decision for someone you care about hurts in the short term,” the team said in a statement. They noted that leaving the situation to the sport’s governing body would have been the easier path, but they felt their own integrity required a firm response.
Justin Haley will replace Hocevar in the No. 77 car. Haley is a NASCAR veteran and a former driver for Spire Motorsports. He will drive in the season finale as the team wraps up its 2026 campaign.
Hocevar described the suspension as an embarrassing day in a statement released by his team. He acknowledged that his on-track actions crossed a line. “I let the people down that gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to drive a Cup car,” he wrote. He said his performance gave owner Jeff Dickerson and the team no choice but to put another driver in the seat.
Hocevar, 23, finished 12th in the points standings before the final race. In 35 races this season, he recorded one win, six top-five finishes, and 12 top-10 finishes. He earned his first Cup Series victory at Talladega on April 26 and qualified for the postseason for the first time in his career. His aggressive driving style made him popular with fans, though he was involved in a viral brawl at Bristol in September.
