What happened
On lap 212 at Martinsville, Carson Hocevar slowed exiting turn 2, and Austin Cindric hit his rear bumper, damaging Cindric’s nose. Cindric had restarted 16th after taking the wavearound, a lap behind the leaders.
Cindric accused Hocevar of deliberately causing the collision by brake-checking him. Hocevar initially rejected that characterization, describing the incident as ordinary Martinsville racing and saying drivers were trying to move each other. After the penalties, Hocevar acknowledged that his on-track actions had crossed the line.
Background
Cindric was already recovering from a lengthy green-flag pit stop. A caution shortly after he returned to the track had trapped him two laps down.
What it cost
Cindric finished 36th, losing 20 positions from his 16th-place restart before the contact. His team attempted repairs, but the damaged car could not maintain minimum speed, forcing him out.
On November 3, NASCAR fined Hocevar $100,000 and deducted 25 driver points for the brake-checks under Section 4.4a of its Rule Book and its Code of Conduct. The deduction dropped him from 12th to 13th in the Chase standings.
Spire Motorsports suspended Hocevar for the Homestead-Miami season finale because of the incident. Justin Haley will drive the No. 77 in his place.
What could have been done differently
Hocevar’s mistake was braking repeatedly on the straightaway with Cindric directly behind him. He should have maintained racing speed and followed his spotter’s instruction: “Okay, just go please, just go.”