Chris Buescher doesn’t typically engage with social media, but his phone erupted on Thursday when Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson suggested that Buescher’s No. 17 team might become collateral damage in the escalating conflict between Brad Keselowski and Carson Hocevar.
The tension stems from contact between the two drivers during the early stages of last Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which ultimately led to Keselowski’s crash. An visibly upset Keselowski addressed the incident in his post-race interview, delivering a stern warning to Hocevar.
“His day’s coming and it’s coming hard. Watch out, Carson.”
While Keselowski maintained a more composed demeanor during Saturday’s press conference, he made it clear that his rivalry with the young Spire Motorsports driver was far from resolved.
Dickerson warned that RFK Racing’s dual Chase contenders could become targets if Keselowski decides to seek retribution against Hocevar. Speaking on The Athletic’s Gluckcast, Dickerson expressed concern about potential payback scenarios that could affect championship-caliber teams.
“We don’t want to get in a crashing cars contest,” Dickerson stated. “They’ve got two cars in the Chase, too. What are we doing? What, he wants to dump Carson, so then Carson goes and gets [Chris Buescher]? All these unwritten rules out there. Chase guys, non-Chase guys. It’s like Brad knows these rules; he wrote them. So, if a non-Chase guy wants to do that, OK, then I guess whatever happens, happens. It’s the same to us.”
“I can tell you, if Carson is going to get wrecked, there will be a commensurate response.”
Both Keselowski and Ryan Preece responded with aggressive defiance to Dickerson’s comments.
“Bring it,” Keselowski said. “I’ll fight back with anybody in the garage. I’m not afraid of that.”
Preece echoed similar sentiments.
“Be careful what you look for because you might find it,” Preece cautioned.
Meanwhile, Buescher expressed disbelief that his team had become part of this controversy. He directly criticized Dickerson’s statements multiple times during Saturday’s events.
“Yeah, I mean, we just ignore the stupidity and roll on,” Buescher said. “That’s one of the dumber things I’ve heard. So obviously, we have nothing to do with that. This is why I try and stay off social media, but too many people around me do see it and it does get sent to me.”
“Next thing you know, I’m working in the shop late at night trying to goof off a little bit and start catching sound bites. It’s just dumb. It’s so dumb to say something like that. So yeah, let them do what they’ll do.”
“Obviously, it’s been posted all over the media center and everywhere around the garage, so everyone’s going to play into it. We don’t want to be a part of that story and I don’t know why we are.”
Buescher currently sits 11th in the championship standings, while Preece is 15th following the opening race of the Chase for the Championship. Hocevar holds the 12th position.
Keselowski, who failed to qualify for the 16-driver, 10-race playoff format, arguably has the least to lose by engaging in retaliatory actions. While he would face point penalties and fines, his ownership stake in RFK Racing provides him with financial independence from the consequences.
For his part, Hocevar views the growing controversy as beneficial for NASCAR’s entertainment value and fan engagement.
“I have to think so,” Hocevar said. “I scroll on TikTok or whatever, and I’m pretty much my whole ‘for you’ page. It’s just me on my own page. There’s one that got a million something views. That has to be good for the sport. You look at the comments and you can tell it’s not all normal NASCAR fans that were getting it on their algorithm.”
“We got back 15-something years, look at Richmond stories, or SPEED documentaries with Kevin Harvick v. Ricky Rudd. Bristol with Dale vs. Labonte. Some of these tracks didn’t always have the best races but there were some single file races and all people remember are the guys running into each other.”
“Those are things that get people talking and are remembered for years.”
