NASCAR Crew Member Removed For Comments About Mexico originally appeared on The Spun.

It turns out Carson Hocevar wasn’t the only NASCAR personality who had something bad to say about Mexico.

Before the NASCAR Cup Series held its race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Hocevar made a questionable comment on a since-deleted stream on Twitch. The talented driver for Spire Motorsports referred to Mexico as a “s–hole.”

Advertisement

Spire Motorsports fined Hocevar $50,000 for his remarks, with all of the money being donated to three organizations that serve communities in Mexico. Additionally, he’ll have to complete cultural-sensitivity and bias-awareness training.

“Whoa everybody, the truth is the truth. I said something that not only was wrong, I said it without even laying my own two eyes on CDMX or turning one lap in an actual race at an amazing facility that welcomed me with open arms and I go and say that? Thank you for the support but I’m not sure we’re on the same page,” Hocevar wrote on X. “You guys want me to be me? It was me who said it and it was me who apologized after actually taking the time to explore the city and feel the passion of every fan in attendance.

“I appreciate the opportunity to learn and I knew before this weekend what respect means to this organization and I didn’t meet the standard so I got what I deserved. I hate learning these lessons in the public eye and bringing any negative attention to Spire or me. We’ve been fast just about every week and I’m sure I have plenty of mistakes left in me. I appreciate growing up in front of all of you and you guys get to see the good and the bad. I’m just me. I’m trying. It just doesn’t always go the way I want and I bring a lot of this on myself. However, I love being in this garage, with this team surrounded by the best drivers and fans in the world. See you in Pocono.”

Despite what he previously said, Hocevar hasn’t lost his spot with Spire Motorsports. We can’t say the same thing for a member on Hyak Motorsports.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s spotter, Tab Boyd, ripped Mexico in a since-deleted tweet.

Advertisement

“I’m ready to go home, screw this place,” he wrote. “People can talk it up all they want… can’t even walk out the front door of the hotel without getting hustled and money snatched… in less than five minutes. Good area my [expletive]…”

Interestingly enough, Boyd isn’t listed as Stenhouse’s spotter for this weekend. As of right now, Clayton Hughes is expected to take that spot.

Hyak Motorsports has not yet said if Boyd has been benched or outright fired. Eventually, the truth will come to light.

Related: NASCAR Fans React To Carson Hocevar’s ‘Classy’ Announcement

NASCAR Crew Member Removed For Comments About Mexico first appeared on The Spun on Jun 20, 2025

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.

June 20, 2025

• Tomy Drissi enters next weekend’s Mid-Ohio SpeedTour third in Trans Am points after taking his second podium of the season at Lime Rock Park

• Drissi has multiple recent podiums at the Ohio circuit, including second place in 2021 and third last year, as well as an American Le Mans Series victory here in 2011

• Tomy has earned the pole position multiple times at Mid-Ohio, including three consecutive years from 2013-15 and most recently in 2021, and has held the Trans Am track record at the circuit

2009 Trans Am champion Tomy Drissi and Drissi Motorsports continue their pursuit of another Trans Am by Pirelli title this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Coming off their second podium of the season at Lime Rock Park, Drissi and the #8 Trench Shorting Company/Motul/Franklin Road Apparel Chevrolet Camaro team will carry plenty of momentum into a track where Drissi has excelled in years past.

Drissi’s record at Mid-Ohio is one of his most impressive at any circuit on the Trans Am schedule. From 2013-15, he scored three consecutive TA poles at the track, setting a track record in the process. He scored his most recent pole at the track in 2021, converting that into a second place finish, and last year he earned his third podium finish of the season here with a third place run. Beyond that, Drissi scored two straight American Le Mans Series podiums here in 2010-11; he was on the LMP podium with Bryan Willman in 2010, and he teamed up with Kyle Marcelli for the LMPC victory in 2011.

Combine that with a determined drive to the podium in last month’s Memorial Day Classic, and Drissi is one of this weekend’s drivers to watch. After persevering through car setup issues at Lime Rock Park, Drissi took a hard-fought third place finish to strengthen his grip on third place in the TA championship.

“I’m really excited to get back to Mid-Ohio with momentum on our side,” said Drissi. “I’ve had a lot of great results here over the years, and after we found a way to finish on the podium at Lime Rock Park, there’s no reason to think we can’t add another one this weekend. The team has been working hard to make sure we’re ready, and we think we can get a podium streak going!”

Trans Am action for Tomy Drissi and Drissi Motorsports from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course kicks off with a pair of optional test sessions at 1:35PM and 5:45PM on Thursday. On Friday, practice will run at 12:05PM and TA drivers will qualify at 5:35PM. Saturday’s race will kick off at 12:35PM and run for 45 laps or 75 minutes, with the usual live streaming available on Trans Am social media channels and SPEED SPORT 1.

To keep up with Tomy Drissi, follow @tomydrissi on Instagram and Facebook, and visit www.tomydrissi.com. Following Mid-Ohio, Drissi Motorsports returns to action on June 26-29 at Road America.

LONG POND, Pa. — Layne Riggs earned his first win of the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season in Friday’s race at Pocono Raceway.

Riggs led three times for 25 of 80 laps, including the final 20.

Riggs won the first stage and finished third to Corey Heim and Carson Hocevar in the second stage.

STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 20): Layne Riggs, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Andres Perez, Jake Garcia, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes

STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 40): Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Andres Perez, Connor Mosack.

With 20 laps to go, he was set to restart to the inside of Heim and challenge him when smoke billowed from Heim’s truck. Heim had a tire issue that gave the lead to Riggs for the restart.

The only problem is Hocevar thought he had the lead on the outside lane. Hocevar went first, leading to a drive through the pits as a penalty under green.

Riggs cruised away to victory, handing a 3.64-second defeat to Tanner Gray who finished second.

TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 80): Layne Riggs, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Connor Mosack, Chandler Smith, Stewart Friesen, Ty Majeski and Rajah Caruth.

Carson Hocevar finished 13th after having a drive-through penalty for the restart violation. Patrick Emerling finished 15th after running inside the top-10 in the final stage. Frankie Muniz finished 19th. Corey Heim finished 23rd after the tire issue.

In all, four cautions fell Friday, including two cautions in the final 40-lap stage.

Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Conner Jones, Dawson Sutton, Cody Dennison and Tyler Ankrum crashed on lap 49. Jake Garcia crashed on lap 57.

After Pocono, seven drivers are virtually locked into the playoffs: Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, Layne Riggs, Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Hemric, Stewart Friesen and Rajah Caruth. Three spots remain for drivers to get in on points. Here is what the battle for those spots looks like:

• Grant Enfinger: +50 points to the cutline
• Kaden Honeycutt: +45
• Ty Majeski: +10
• Jake Garcia: -10 points to the cutline
• Gio Ruggiero: -58
• Ben Rhodes -60
• Tanner Gray -83

NEXT: Lime Rock Park, June 27 (1 p.m. ET; FOX, NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)

Below is a live race updates recap of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway.

FINAL STAGE

Layne Riggs leads after Corey Heim had a tire issue and then Carson Hocevar had a restart violation.

The final stage consists of half of the race distance — 40 laps. Here is what has happened so far:

Corey Heim is coming off of his 12th stage win, the most in a single Truck season.

Heim, Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia, Stewart Friesen, Patrick Emerling and Connor Mosack lead everyone except Rajah Caruth, who stayed out, off of pit road on lap 42. It is outside of the pit window

Caruth will lead the drivers who came off of pit road.

Heim snagged the lead from Caruth. Caruth lost positions to Riggs, Hocevar, Honeycutt and Tanner Gray. He runs sixth ahead of Majeski, Garcia, Brandon Jones and Mosack as multiple trucks crash in turn two with 32 laps to go.

Among the trucks involved are Grant Enfinger, Conner Jones, Dawson Sutton, Cody Dennison and Tyler Ankrum. Enfinger made it three-wide while racing Rhodes and Ankrum. Rhodes had a fast truck before the incident. He has damage now.

Rajah Caruth pitted under caution on lap 50. He can make it to the end on fuel with that stop.

The predetermined race conclusion time is 8:25 p.m. ET. With 28 laps to go, there is a little under two hours until that time.

TOP-10 on LAP 53: Heim, Riggs, Hocevar, Honeycutt, Tanner Gray, Majeski, Garcia, Jones, Smith, Mosack.

Heim has led three times for all but 12 laps — 41 of 53 — while Riggs has led twice for five laps, Friesen has led four and Caruth has led three.

Jake Garcia didn’t take a block from Kaden Honeycutt and bumped him going into turn one. Unfortunately, Garcia wobbled more than Honeycutt and lost positions, finding himself in the clutches of a mess that left him wrecked exiting turn one.

Top 10 is now: Heim, Riggs, Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Honeycutt, Mosack, Friesen, Emerling, Jones and Hemric. Rajah Caruth sits 21st.

Corey Heim has blown a tire coming to the green with 19 laps to go and likely will not win. Carson Hocevar jumps out to the lead ahead of Layne Riggs with Tanner Gray following closely. Riggs dives into turn one and tries to clear Gray, does and holds on to second.

Carson Hocevar will have to do a drive-through penalty because of the restart chaos. Hocevar took the green flag from the outside lane, which Heim picked. However, the rules specify the second-place driver is the control truck. Riggs was in control but Hocevar was not.

Matt Crafton pits for a tire issue with 13 laps to go. He had been running 10th before that.

Daniel Hemric has rallied to fifth after running outside of the top-15 for much of the race.

Top-10 with eight laps to go: Riggs, Tanner Gray, Honeycutt, Brandon Jones, Hemric, Mosack, Chandler Smith, Friesen, Majeski, Caruth.

Patrick Emerling, who has run inside the top-10 for much of the final stage, has dropped to 12th. Frankie Muniz runs 19th after running as high as 16th.

Hocevar has recovered to 18th after the penalty under green.

STAGE TWO – NASCAR TRUCK SERIES AT POCONO

The leaders pitted at the start of the stage while under caution after finishing the first stage. Connor Mosack, stage one winner Layne Riggs, Andres Perez, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, Patrick Emerling, Jake Garcia, Chandler Smith, Ben Rhodes and Jack Wood lead everyone off of pit road. They will restart behind Michigan winner Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar and Tanner Gray. Friesen hasn’t pitted yet while Heim, Hocevar and Gray pitted in stage one.

Gio Ruggiero also pitted during stage one but will his crew had an issue with the left-front tire that put him a lap down. He caught the free pass and got back on the lead lap.

Friesen didn’t even get to lead a lap before Heim took over again. Hocevar also passed Friesen, dropping him to third. Garcia gained six spots and jumped to fourth while Riggs lost two positions with an issue in turn one. He gained one more spot on lap nine.

Ben Rhodes is up 18 spots to 13th on lap nine.

Hocevar is mixing it up with Heim. He challenged him but had to settle for second.

Top-10 at Lap 10/20 in Stage Two: Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Jake Garcia, Stewart Friesen, Tanner Gray, Connor Mosack, Kaden Honeycutt, Layne Riggs, Andres Perez, Tyler Ankrum.

Grant Enfinger is 31st, one lap down, after the caution for Cody Dennison crashing caught Enfinger a lap down.

Riggs is back up to fifth after almost sliding outside of the top-10. Friesen has dropped to sixth. Riggs now takes fourth from Tanner Gray.

Friesen makes his first pit stop on lap 35. He could make it to the end on fuel if there are a slew of cautions.

In 15 Truck races at Pocono, there has been an average of five cautions for 17 laps per race. So far, there has been just one caution for seven laps.

Stage Two Top-10, NASCAR Truck Series race at Pocono: Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Tyler Ankrum, Ben Rhodes, Andres Perez, Connor Mosack.

STAGE ONE – NASCAR TRUCK SERIES AT POCONO

It is never not Heim Time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Pole sitter Layne Riggs slid up the track from the outside lane, giving Kaden Honeycutt room to take the lead and Corey Heim to take second. Fourth-place Carson Hocevar pushed Riggs down the backstretch, giving momentum to Riggs and Heim who went three-wide with Honeycutt. Heim took the lead while Riggs stayed in third — at least for a lap.

Riggs passed Honeycutt in the tunnel turn, to which Honeycutt responded with a move in turn three. The drag from them racing so closely brought Hocevar into the mix in a three-wide move. Riggs and Hocevar jumped to second and third while Honeycutt fell to fourth.

Top-10 at Lap 8/20 of Stage One: Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, Carson Hocevar, Kaden Honeycutt, Tanner Gray, Gio Ruggiero, Rajah Caruth, Connor Mosack, Andres Perez de Lara, Jake Garcia.

Norm Benning and Bryan Dauzat are on pit road already, likely out of the race. Dawson Cram is also off of the track.

Matt Crafton has dropped to 22nd.

Hocevar, Gio Ruggiero and Rajah Caruth are among the leaders to pit with three laps to go in the stage to try and shuffle around to the lead to start the second stage. Heim pits a lap later to thwart their tactic.

Cody Dennison did more to deter anyone else as he crashed in turn two with a blown tire.

Layne Riggs will win the first stage of the NASCAR Truck Series race at Pocono. Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Andres Perez, Jake Garcia, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes round out the top-10.

TRUCK RACE START AT POCONO

Layne Riggs is ready to lead the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series field to the green flag Friday at Pocono Raceway.

Kaden Honeycutt will share the front row with Riggs. Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Tanner Gray, Gio Ruggiero, Andres Perez, Rajah Caruth, Brandon Jones and Patrick Emerling round out the top-10 starters.

Clayton Green, Bryan Dauzat and Dawson Sutton will go to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.

Here is the full lineup:

Hendrick Motorsports technical director Tom Gray revealed the advantages artificial intelligence could afford NASCAR teams amid the 2025 Cup Series season.

There are many different ways to approach NASCAR, a sport whose accessibility has been questioned in recent times. While LeBron James is helping a high schooler fulfill his dream, AI is helping teams adjust and adapt.

Coming out of the thrilling NASCAR Mexico City race, which was won by Shane Van Gisbergen, Hendrick Motorsports – who put Chase Elliott on double duty again recently – have outlined how AI is important to the team’s operations. It may explain why William Byron and Kyle Larson have four wins between them to sit first and second in the standings.

AI is playing an increasingly crucial role in how race teams operate throughout NASCAR. Teams are using AI to make more efficient decisions, unlock new strategic insights, and reshape race preparation.

Teams that don’t use AI risk being left behind as the spot evolves and adapts in line with modernity. Hendrick Motorsports is at the cutting edge of the AI revolution, with the technology assisting everything from strategy calls to post-race feedback.

“Information is speed in this game nowadays,” said Gray. “He who can distill the information quicker and get to the decision quicker, ultimately, is going to have the race win.”

AI can now detect tone and navigate complex decisions effectively. For example, driver and crew radio calls can be fed into an AI model that identifies which calls worked and which didn’t and also deciphers the urgency of each call in real time.

Hendrick Motorsports, the winningest team in Cup Series history, is now leveraging its four decades of data. The team can now go back and test old strategies, setups and decisions to ultimately see how past insight might lead to future success.

“We’ve had a long history in the sport,” Gray added. “Not only can we look forward, but we can also look backward, back-test all the information we have, and see how that predicts the future.”

DON’T MISS…

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with The Great American Getaway at Pocono Raceway on Sun., June 22.

Anyone who has driven a 1979 to 2004 Ford Mustang knows its biggest weakness often isn’t the engine — it’s the flexible platform. That shaky, loose feeling when you push it hard comes from the chassis itself twisting under load. The team at Maximum Motorsports argues that before you touch any other part of the suspension, you need to fix this core problem with a good set of subframe connectors.These Mustangs have separate front and rear subframes, with only the floorpan connecting them. This setup allows the whole car to act like an uncontrolled fifth spring, which hurts handling and ride quality. Subframe connectors are strong steel tubes that are welded to the underside of the car, directly connecting the front and rear subframes.

This makes the entire chassis much more solid and lets the shocks and springs do their jobs properly. A stiffer chassis means the car responds better when you turn the wheel and launch harder at the drag strip because engine power goes to the tires instead of being wasted twisting the car’s body. It even makes the car more comfortable by bracing the front seats and stopping them from rocking on the flexible floor.