Denny Hamlin has 'no issues' with Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney confronting Carson Hocevar at Atlanta

Carson Hocevar had a couple of visitors on pit road after Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta. First, it was Ross Chastain. Then, it was Ryan Blaney — both upset at Hocevar for how he raced them in the third and final stage.

Chastain handled his business with Hocevar in the frontstretch grass away from the cameras. Blaney spoke with Hocevar by his car; neither interaction escalated beyond a normal conversation.

Once upon a time, Chastain was in Hocevar’s shoes — the upstart NASCAR driver trying to make a name for himself in the Cup Series. And like Hocevar, Chastain was uber aggressive during races which invited a few visitors next to his car from time to time. Chastain notably had some past run-ins with Denny Hamlin, who felt Chastain handled himself well in this interaction with Hocevar.

“I think Ross handled that great,” Hamlin said on Monday’s Actions Detrimental podcast. “… I had that same conversation with Ross after the Phoenix race. He was very level-headed when we spoke, and it pretty much killed it between me and him at that point. He walked up and said, ‘I guess I pretty much deserved that.’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ and then we talked it out and then it was over.

“I think for him, he went to the grass because he did not want TV or anybody hearing what they had to say. He wanted it to be a private conversation and so, I think he executed it well. It looked like he was level-headed. Carson was level-headed. I got no issues.”

Carson Hocevar speaks out about controversial finish at Atlanta leading to chats with Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney

While the conversation was civil, the words from Hocevar weren’t all that satisfactory to Chastain, who told Alan Cavanna that he didn’t wish to share what the two talked about but indicated he did not hear what he wanted from Hocevar in response.

“No sir,” Chastain said.

It’s not hard to see why Blaney was upset at Hocevar. Blaney was sent spinning by Hocevar on Lap 234 while racing near the front of the pack. Blaney miraculously saved it on the apron with no damage. But on the radio, Blaney was irate.

“He’s just a moron,” Blaney said. “He just runs right into the back of you. Has zero idea of where to bump somebody, where not to, he’s swiping across my bumper as he’s doing it. He just has no idea the whole race.”

Hocevar, who was going for his first career win in Cup, admitted there’s some stuff he needs to “clean up a little bit.” He did not, however, reveal anything pertaining to the pit road conversations with Chastain and Blaney.

“I’ll just leave those to myself,” Hocevar told Regan Smith of FOX Sports. “… I normally ride in the back, and it was trying to get a good, decent finish and for how bad we were at Daytona. … There’s some stuff I gotta clean up a little bit, but I feel like we put ourselves in the perfect opportunity to try to win a race. I’ve never had that opportunity really before — especially on a superspeedway.”