NASCAR has issued penalties to Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chase race at Martinsville Speedway, the sanctioning body announced on Tuesday.
Hocevar has been docked 25 driver points and fined $100,000 for multiple violations of Sections 4.4a of the NASCAR Rule Book: Penalty Options; Actions detrimental to stock car racing. Berry has been docked 25 driver points and fined $50,000 for the same violation.
Specifically, NASCAR stated that the penalties relate to wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from competition as a result.
RELATED: Martinsville results
“The actions that these two drivers took on Sunday felt like we needed to get involved,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, during a Tuesday SiriusXM NASCAR Radio interview. “What rose to a level of real concern for us is was that they had taken the structure of the front of the car and used that as an antic or a strategy to basically ruin other drivers’ days, and we felt like we had to step in.”
Spire Motorsports announced earlier Tuesday the suspension of Hocevar for Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Sun., 3 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for his on-track actions at Martinsville. SMT data showed Hocevar brake-checked Austin Cindric in Stage 2 of Sunday’s penultimate season contest, resulting in terminal damage for the No. 2 Team Penske Ford.
Hocevar was also involved in a single-car spin that brought the caution out on Lap 198 as he was being put a lap down by leader William Byron.
MORE: Homestead weekend schedule
Berry brake-checked another Team Penske driver, Ryan Blaney, on Lap 253 in a similar incident to Hocevar/Cindric. Blaney suffered heavy front-end damage before spinning in Turn 1, causing a caution. Penske shares a technical alliance with the Wood Brothers Racing team that Berry currently drives for. Sunday is Berry’s final race in the No. 21 Ford before turning to Legacy Motor Club for the 2027 season.
“As we reviewed both of those incidents, and you look at the 77, and with Carson being in situations before where we’ve had behavioral situations and penalties, we’ve had discussion with him, we just felt like after reviewing all of the data and the audio, that this one rose to a level that it needed to be more than just a $50,000 that Josh got, and the 25 points for both,” Sawyer said, comparing the incidents from each driver. “As we looked at it, trying to be as consistent as we’ve been in the past on the points side of it, and we landed on — with both of them — 25. Again, the difference being the monetary side of it, and we feel like that would have more of an impact than the points side of it.
MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights
“We didn’t take this lightly. We met all morning and part of the afternoon on this topic, and felt like this was the best place to land on it.”
Additionally, the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford team was penalized under Sections 8.8.10.4 A&D: Tires and Wheels, Safety Violations, for the loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle. On a restart on Lap 225, driver Ryan Preece’s right-rear wheel fell off, causing a caution. Jackman Samuel Wright and rear tire changer James Price have been suspended from the next two Cup Series events through the Wheatley Vodka Clash exhibition race on Feb. 13, 2027, at Daytona International Speedway.