NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar suspended for final race of 2026 season

MOORESVILLE, NC (WBTV) — Star NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar was suspended by his own team for the final race of the 2026 season.

Drivers in all three of NASCAR’s top series will wrap up the 2026 slate this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, save for Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 car.

Spire Motorsports announced on November 3, that Hocevar was suspended for the November 8 season finale.

The team-induced suspension came after some accused Hocevar of intentionally spinning himself to cause a caution during the November 1 race at Martinsville.

The 23-year-old also had a run-in with Austin Cindric as he upheld his reputation as an aggressive driver.

“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.”

NASCAR veteran and former Spire driver Justin Haley will race in Hocevar’s place at Homestead.

In a statement of his own, Hocevar called 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 become one of NASCAR’s more popular drivers in 2026 but also bears a list of numerous incidents involving other drivers in his career and was involved in a viral brawl at Bristol in September.

He earned his first Cup race win at Talladega on April 26, and advanced to NASCAR’s postseason for the first time in 2026.