TC Daily Pit Stop: Hocevar Fined, Docked Points for Intentionally Spinning Burton; Zane Smith Equally Proud, Disappointed With Runner-Up; 5 OT Finish Creates Opportunity Preece; Dye Carrying Momentum
TC Daily Pit Stop: Hocevar Fined, Docked Points for Intentionally Spinning Burton; Zane Smith Equally Proud, Disappointed With Runner-Up; 5 OT Finish Creates Opportunity Preece; Dye Carrying Momentum
TC Daily Pit Stop: Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Carson Hocevar Fined $50k, Docked 25 Points for Nashville Run-In With Harrison Burton
Carson Hocevar’s wallet is a little bit lighter, and his points position took a bit of a hit on Wednesday afternoon as NASCAR levied penalties following Hocevar choosing to intentionally spin Harrison Burton under caution in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Hocevar was fined $50,000 and docked 25 points for the move. Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports team says they accept the penalty and will not move for an appeal.
The driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 drops from 22nd to 24th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings.
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Zane Smith Equally Proud, Disappointed with Runner-Up Finish at Nashville
Zane Smith was just 0.068 seconds shy of his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win this past weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, and while the solid finish finally gave the driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet a highlight in what has been a miserable rookie season, Smith still found himself disappointed. He was disappointed that Joey Logano somehow stretched his fuel 110 laps for the win, and that he just didn’t have enough speed to get by him on the final lap.
"You never know how many more opportunities you’re going to have at a Cup win, so we’ll be thinking about that one, and of course it stings when you see them shaking it, thinking he’s going to run out right at the line, but just short," Smith said.
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Quintuple Overtime Creates Top-Five Opportunity for Ryan Preece at Nashville
Ryan Preece has to feel confident when he heads to the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway, as the driver racked up back-to-back NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins at the facility in 2021 and 2022. And in Sunday’s Ally 400, Preece got another solid finish — this time a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series.
While Preece had an alright day going, a wild five-overtime finish to the event helped shuffle Preece further up the running order to put him in a position to score his first top-five finish of the season, and in the end, he grabbed his best finish of his two seasons with Stewart-Haas Racing in the NCS ranks.
“We just kept moving forward and we had fresher tires,” said Preece. “Just really happy with how these guys kept fighting all day. Didn’t look like it was going to be very pretty, but another chaotic 10 or 15 laps there at the end and we salvaged a good day.”
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Daniel Dye Carries Building Momentum to Second-Place Run at Nashville
You know, if the competition isn’t careful, Daniel Dye is going to find himself inside the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs. The driver of the No. 43 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado has impressed mightily in 2024, and that continued with a runner-up finish in Friday night’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nasvhille Superspeedway.
Dye now sits just 14 points below the Truck Series Playoffs cutline with three races remaining until the Playoffs begin.
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Thomas Annunziata Returns to JD Motorsports for Chicago Street Race
19-year-old Thomas Annunziata, who has impressed in the limited starts he has made in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series ranks this season, will get another chance behind the wheel of the No. 6 JD Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro this weekend at the Chicago Street Course.
The TransAm TA2 division standout will have sponsorship in the event from Opti-Coat Ceramic Coating, The Daily Downforce on YouTube, Chicago Food Guide, America’s Vet Dogs, and BOOSTane.