The Carson Hocevar NASCAR All-Star Race incident at North Wilkesboro stirred significant debate throughout the motorsports community, as a late-race collision involving Hocevar and Josh Berry led to heated reactions and raised questions about intent and fairness. Taking place on May 16, 2025, in North Carolina, the clash not only disrupted Hocevar’s run but also reignited past controversies and set off a chain of industry criticism, highlighting ongoing tensions between drivers and teams.
Tempers Flare After Late-Race Contact at Sonoma
Carson Hocevar, representing Spire Motorsports in the No. 77 chevrolet/”>Chevrolet, has become one of the most polarizing figures in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series so far. The young driver from Portage, Michigan, already had a reputation for aggressive maneuvers earlier in the season, as seen in previous disputes with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and friction with groups of veteran drivers in Atlanta and Nashville. However, the events at Sonoma flipped that narrative, as Hocevar moved from instigator to target.
Heading into Sonoma, Hocevar was in a challenging position, enduring four consecutive finishes outside the top 25 since Charlotte. The turning point came during the closing laps of the race, when Josh Berry, aiming to rebound after trouble in Chicago, made contact with Hocevar at Turn 2. Berry’s action sent Hocevar spinning across the grass, dropping him from a potential top-ten finish to 32nd, while Berry ended up 13th.
Reflecting on the incident, Hocevar shared,
‘Man, of all people like to wreck me.’ I thought it would be somebody like I had it coming.
—Carson Hocevar, Driver
Hocevar’s comments reveal his expectation that animosity from prior run-ins would cause conflict, but he did not foresee Berry being the one to upend his race. While Berry admitted fault for the contact, his team, Wood Brothers Racing, offered a very different public stance.
Industry Reactions and the Wood Brothers’ Response
The situation was further complicated by the public response of Wood Brothers Racing. Rather than simply accepting responsibility, the team referenced a year-old incident that had seen Hocevar penalized for spinning out Harrison Burton, then driving for WBR. On social media, WBR posted,
Trying to remember if we ever got wrecked for absolutely no reason by the 77, but I’m coming up empty.
—Wood Brothers Racing, Team
Attached to the message was a reminder of the previous year’s Hocevar-Burton clash at the Coke Zero 400, for which Hocevar had received a $50,000 penalty. The move was widely interpreted as an attempt to justify Berry’s action in the context of ongoing grievances, even though Burton no longer races for WBR.
The team’s reaction drew criticism from figures around the NASCAR community. Quigs, co-host of the “Rubbin’ is Racing” podcast, weighed in,
Wood Brothers put out what I think is one of the most petty f–king responses to criticism about it. I don’t know what Wood Brothers is trying to say… Yeah, that’s a little weird to me. We told Josh Berry to internalize that pain even though it wasn’t him, it was the season before. And take it out on him at the end of the f–king Sonoma race.
—Quigs, Co-host, Rubbin’ is Racing
According to the podcast hosts, there remains a lack of clarity about what triggered Berry’s move, as Hocevar’s previous frictions were not directly with anyone currently at WBR. Quigs also said,
there has to be something that transpired recently.
—Quigs, Co-host, Rubbin’ is Racing
Dale Earnhardt Jr. mentioned Berry’s move in the race broadcast, but offered little analysis, amplifying the sense of confusion throughout the industry. Quigs further commented,
Dale just casually said, ‘Josh Berry just hooked Carson Hocevar’…there was no follow-up to it, I think everyone was baffled why. If it were some of the other people that Carson has had some smoke with earlier this season, it might make some sense. But I think they just chocked it up to like, ‘Ah, Carson must have done something.’ It’s kind of unfair for the kid, but to bring up the whole idea of him stupidly taking out Harrison Burton last season, I don’t know if that’s the f–king reason you wanna put up.
—Quigs, Co-host, Rubbin’ is Racing
This web of unresolved grievances and conflicting narratives left many NASCAR insiders and fans grappling with questions of fairness and motive, fueling a charged atmosphere in the Cup Series garage.
Josh Berry’s Focus on Rebuilding and Wood Brothers Racing’s Revival
For Wood Brothers Racing, 2025 has in many ways been a comeback year after a string of lackluster seasons. Josh Berry’s performance has played a significant role in this shift. His win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the team’s 101st victory, putting the organization firmly back in the competitive mix. Berry also logged top-ten finishes in Phoenix (4th) and Kansas (6th), reinforcing his importance to the WBR resurgence.
Reflecting on his recent journey, Berry commented,
Getting knocked out that quickly is never how you want to end a weekend. That’s behind us now, and I’m focused on Sonoma. The team has been working really hard. And I believe we’ve got a group capable of putting together a solid run.
—Josh Berry, Driver
As the oldest active team in the Cup Series garage, Wood Brothers Racing is leveraging its recent successes for a broader celebration of its heritage. The team has launched “Wood Brothers Wednesdays” on The NASCAR Channel, revisiting memorable moments, including its historic 75th anniversary and David Pearson’s three-race winning streak at Dover in the early 1970s. Pearson’s dominance at Dover included leading over 1,000 of 1,500 laps during that period, and the team has led over 297 laps at the track across six races.
This push for relevance has centered on Berry, who is now regularly in the spotlight as a representative of the team’s revitalization. Despite the backlash from the Sonoma incident—particularly around Berry’s aggressive tactics and the WBR social media response—Berry’s track record this season keeps momentum going for both himself and the organization as they look ahead to the races at Dover and beyond.
Legacy and Lingering Tensions Moving Forward
The fallout from the Carson Hocevar NASCAR All-Star Race incident highlights enduring tensions within the sport and between its competitors. The sequence of events at Sonoma, compounded by social media jabs and references to past conflicts, underscores just how quickly narratives can shift in racing. While Hocevar’s reputation for aggression made him an easy target for criticism, the specific circumstances surrounding Berry’s contact and the WBR response reveal deeper complexities at play.
Both fans and analysts now watch to see how this latest conflict will influence the rest of the season. Wood Brothers Racing is using recent accomplishments and heritage celebrations to fuel its resurgence, while Carson Hocevar faces increased industry scrutiny, as well as sympathy from some quarters for the manner in which the incident unfolded. With future races on the schedule, including a much-anticipated stop at Dover, the attention on both drivers and their teams continues to intensify, ensuring that the reverberations from Sonoma will last well beyond a single race weekend.
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