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Carson Hocevar explains Kyle Busch 'business decision' in wake of surprising Atlanta teamwork, past feud

johnby: John Jamison02/21/26johndjamison

Have Carson Hocevar and Kyle Busch squashed their beef? After the latter’s record 68th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win today, Carson Hocevar joined Rowdy’s burnout in celebration. But the young driver, whom Busch was threatening to wreck and calling a “douchebag” this time last year, had a surprisingly mature reason.

“I went over to just high-five him because I thought it would be a good picture, be good for the marketing team and good for the social. That was a business decision right there to do that. I had fun,” Hocevar said on the FS1 broadcast after the race.

Both Busch and Hocevar were driving Spire trucks at Atlanta today, so one teammate helping the other to a win, then celebrating with him, might be a reasonable expectation. These two have history, though. Last year in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta, today’s race and wholesome post-race moment would’ve been hard to imagine. Kyle Busch used some colorful language to describe Hocevar in 2025. See below.

Kyle Busch is the last person Carson Hocevar wanted to see win a truck race

“I don’t think I would, for anybody else than Jeff Dickerson, I don’t know, especially a year from here, I think that’s when he was hating my guts especially, in the Cup race, I don’t think I’d ever be excited watching a Kyle Busch truck win,” Hocevar said after the Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta.

“But they kept warning me 245 water temp is when it starts shutting off, and I looked down and it’s about 250. So I kept sputtering and the bottom kept surging and yeah, I had no shot to win the race. So if I wasn’t going to have a shot I was going to make sure the company had a shot. That was great…

…I wish there were a lot of truck guys that wanted to race more. They just wanted to sit on the top. I think I had my own fun and we had a blast. Me and Kyle worked great together. Yeah, I don’t think I’d ever, even as a kid, would have loved to watch Kyle win a truck race. But when Jeff Dickerson’s on the side and TWG and all these guys, it’s pretty good to watch him.”

So, Carson Hocevar made a “business decision” by helping Kyle Busch to the win and celebrating alongside him today. By his admission, for the sake of Jeff Dickerson and Spire. And maybe that’s all it was. But for a young driver who’s developed a reputation for being overly aggressive, reckless, and prone to “rookie” mistakes, perhaps it’s a sign of growth.