LONG POND, Pa. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entered through the tunnel of Pocono Raceway still fired up over a late spin in last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series debut at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
With 10 laps remaining at Mexico City, Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar, one lap down, turned Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevrolet in the stadium section of the 15-turn course for the second time in three races. That came following a conversation between the two drivers before the prior race weekend at Michigan International Speedway, as the No. 47 car was also tagged at Nashville Superspeedway.
The two drivers haven’t spoken about the most recent incident since an immediate pit-road confrontation, though Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson did chat with Stenhouse.
RELATED: Stenhouse confronts Hocevar on pit road at Mexico City
“After all our conversations from Nashville, he said all the right things and even during the race waved me by,” Stenhouse told NASCAR.com Saturday morning at Pocono Raceway, site of Sunday’s Cup race (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “I felt like things were in a good spot. I know he didn’t mean to spin us out, but it still happened. It’s kind of like Nashville, I don’t think he really was like, ‘I’m going to crash you.’ He just did.”
More maddening for Stenhouse was that he believed the No. 47 car was in position to secure a top-20 finish. With Shane van Gisbergen scoring the victory, the elimination line was bumped up, and Stenhouse is now 61 points below the bubble. Ironically, he’s one point behind Hocevar.
“After we spun three or four times [at Mexico], I was just tired of getting spun out,” Stenhouse said. “It cost us at least six or seven spots when that didn’t need to be the case.”
Admittedly, Stenhouse isn’t sure how the situation will be handled from here. After speaking with the media on the topic of Hocevar at three of the last four races, he’s grown exhausted of giving Hocevar any additional energy.
MORE: Hear what Stenhouse Jr. said to Hocevar on pit road
“For me, I’m tired of giving the kid any publicity, anyway,” Stenhouse added. “I don’t know how it’s going to play itself out, but it will.
“I don’t know where it goes or what happens, but we’ve got a job to do over here, and that’s to claw our way back in the points. That line got tougher with SVG winning. We know next weekend is a very good opportunity for us to get the job done and win.”
If the most recent incident had happened domestically, Stenhouse acknowledged he would have likely had a scuffle. Not knowing the Mexican laws and regulations, the elder statesman leaned on his wisdom and opted to play the long game.
“Being in Mexico, it’s the reason I just went and talked to him instead of letting him get out of the car and making sure nothing did happen that I would have regretted later,” Stenhouse added. “Just walking up and doing it in the garage — that’s what got me in trouble for the All-Star Race. It’s been two out of three weeks, so I’m sure there might be something else. We’ll just see how that goes.”
Hocevar admitted Saturday morning during a media availability that he would “probably” give Stenhouse some additional room should the two drivers cross paths during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono.