NASCAR insiders compare Connor Zilisch, Carson Hocevar controversies

Two NASCAR insiders shared their thoughts on what’s currently going on with Connor Zilisch and Carson Hocevar. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic explained why Hoecevar and Zilisch are being treated differently after making mistakes.

“Carson Hocevar has made his bed, saying, ‘Hey, I’m here to race for me, I’m here to win for my team, I don’t really care. Do yoy want to be in my boy band,‘ kind of stuff with the t-shirt,” Gluck said. “He’s taking that approach. The other approach is Connor Zilisch in the Xfinity race likes run people over, anger his teammates, runs Corey Heim off the track. He comes in and he says, ‘Im mad at myself, I’m really frustrated. I hate that, I really got to clean that up.’ He kind of owns that.”

Gluck then explained why he believes Carson Hocevar and Connor Zilisch are acting the right way in their scenarios. “Carson Hocevar in Spire Motorsports car in Cup, he has got to be a little bit more aggressive,” Gluck added. “He has got to be putting his car in positions that other people might not like because he’s not in one of the fastest cars in the field. He’s going to take the consequences of people getting upset with him or racing him harder. He’s made his bed with that.

NASCAR insiders share more on Carson Hocevar and Connor Zilisch

“…Zilisch, on the other hand, is in an elite car. He didn’t have to do those things in the Xfinity race. He was so fast. He even said afterwards, ‘I should have just driven it 80 percent of these places.'” Gluck also said Zilisch has “so much time and so much opportunity to just be patient and work his way through the field.”

Bianchi then shared his thoughts on Hocevar and Zilisch. “The dude was racing for the win,” Bianchi said about Hocevar. “If you’re racing for a win, you should be aggressive. It’s Spire Motorsorts. You don’t know if those opportunities are going to come again. ..I understand why Carson did that.

“What Carson doesn’t get is the benefit of the doubt, though, and I think Connor does a little bit because he’s new. Connor has never intentionally spun somebody out. That’s where a lot of the backlash for Hocevar is justified comes from because of what he did in the Truck Series, because of the Harrison Burton thing at Nashville. Those incidents are inexcusable. You take those away, I don’t think we’re having this conversation about Carson Hocevar to this degree.”

Hocevar and Zilisch are two of the top young drivers in NASCAR. In 2024, Hocevar, 22, was named the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year after earning six top-10 finishes. Zilisch, 18, made his Cup Series debut on Sunday. He won the Xfinity Series race at COTA on Saturday.