Carson Hocevar might want to bide his time crossing his way back into the United States from Sunday's NASCAR Cup race in Mexico. Because Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is going to be waiting for him.
Hocevar and Stenhouse's less than friendly relationship got even colder Sunday when Hocevar locked up in the stadium section of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, making its debut on the Cup circuit.
Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. tangle in Mexico
Carson Hocevar locks up and he sends Ricky Stenhouse Jr into a spin.@AlwaysRaceDay pic.twitter.com/uwarlxarh7
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) June 15, 2025
Hocevar hit the rear of Stenhouse, sending both spinning. They would keep going, albeit very far off the pace.
It wasn't a competitive race for either driver: Hocevar came in 34th (the worst car not 20+ laps down) while Stenhouse finished 27th. All the more reason why such an incident was a brutal look for Hocevar.
Both drivers are racing right around the cut line fir the NASCAR playoffs, coming in 20th and 21st before Mexico.
Stenhouse gives Hocevar a piece of his mind
Immediately after the drivers tangled, Stenhouse was on the radio to issue a warning.
Carson Hocevar brake-hopped going into the stadium section and spun Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who just told his crew very firmly to relay Hocevar a message.
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) June 15, 2025
"Tell him I will see him at Pocono." pic.twitter.com/fwp3qBhmLQ
Stenhouse asked his team to pass along the message of his intentions at next week's race in Pocono, Pennsylvania.
But Stenhouse, who has been known to give driver's an earful (or a fistful), wasn't done.
After the race ended, dominated by Shane van Gisbergen, Stenhouse went to visit Hocevar before he even could leave his car.
According to The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi, Stenhouse is ready to get physical with him once they're back on home soil.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. went over to talk to Carson Hocevar after the race. I asked Ricky what he told Carson: "I told him I was going to beat his ass once we got back in the States." pic.twitter.com/un04U6nyeO
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) June 15, 2025
But we don't need to take his word for it, Max's in-car cameras give us a word-for-word account!
“I’m going to beat your ass!”
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) June 15, 2025
- @StenhouseJr tells @CarsonHocevar
You can hear Hocevar respond, “I f*cked up.”#NASCAR. pic.twitter.com/NHOLC4batS
"I'm going to beat your ass. You're a lap down, you've got nothing to do. Why do you run right into me for? Second time!" Stenhouse shouted at Hocevar. During his fiery speech, you can hear Hocevar be apologetic, but Stenhouse wasn't having it.
"I don't give a damn, I'm going to beat your ass ... when we get back to the states," Stenhouse replied, showing that he actually quoted himself quite well to Bianchi.
Hocevar and Stenhouse's history
Tensions were already not great between the two after Hocevar got into Stenhouse two weeks ago at Nashville.
Hocevar ended up lodging his best ever finish in Cup that race in second, but the wreck overshadowed things a bit.
Stenhouse seemed to imply payback could be coming for the move, but the two had a phone conversation in the following days.
But less than two weeks later, Hocevar has enflamed their issues again.
Although talented, Hocevar has made some enemies for his aggressive driving style. One of his more notable incidents came back in the Truck Series title race in 2022, where he ran into Corey Heim, who then put him in the wall later.
Hocevar vs. Stenhouse Round III set for next week
Stenhouse has promised to deliver a beating next week at Pocono, a 2.5-mile race track shaped like a triangle.
The race airs on Prime and the green flag will drop shortly after 2 p.m.