NASCAR Can’t Hype Keselowski vs. Hocevar and Then Punish the Payback

If NASCAR and its tracks want to sell rivalries as part of the show, they need to be very careful about suddenly becoming offended when the drivers actually deliver one.

Brad Keselowski and Carson Hocevar didn't wreck each other at Gateway.

For the amount of attention surrounding them all weekend, that almost felt like the upset of the race.

Their rivalry began one week earlier at Darlington when Hocevar sent Keselowski spinning at the end of Stage 1. Keselowski responded afterward with a simple warning that Hocevar's day was coming. NASCAR acknowledged the feud, said it was monitoring the situation and entered Gateway with no formal plan to bring the two drivers together.

Then Gateway leaned into it.

Promotional posters around World Wide Technology Raceway advertised the matchup as “A Rivalry Worth Watching: Hurricane Hocevar vs. Bad Brad Keselowski.” Hocevar himself said he liked the promotion and compared it to the way local short tracks used genuine driver rivalries to sell tickets.

Honestly, we're fine with that.

More than fine with it.

NASCAR needs rivalries.

Fans need reasons to care about what happens when two cars running 12th and 13th suddenly find themselves next to each other.

Not every storyline needs to involve the championship or the race winner.

Sometimes you just want to know whether one guy is about to dump another guy because of something that happened last Sunday.

That's racing.

The problem comes when everybody spends an entire week building up the possibility of retaliation and then acts shocked if retaliation actually happens.

That was one of the biggest frustrations we talked about after Gateway. The track promoted the rivalry. The broadcast repeatedly highlighted when the two drivers were near each other. With only a few laps remaining, our crew noticed the coverage shifting attention back toward Keselowski and Hocevar even while the leaders were fighting to decide the race.

At that point, NASCAR isn't simply reporting a rivalry anymore.

The entire sport is selling it.

Again, that's okay.

Just understand what you're selling.

You cannot spend the week putting two drivers on posters, tease the possibility of payback on television, generate social-media clips around it and get fans waiting for the moment Brad finally decides enough is enough...

...then immediately hammer him because the moment actually happens.

There obviously has to be a line.

Nobody is suggesting NASCAR should allow a driver to intentionally turn somebody head-on into the wall at 180 mph or use the race car as a weapon without consequences.

Safety matters.

Context matters.

There is a difference between racing somebody hard, moving them out of the groove, returning a bump or spin, and doing something legitimately dangerous.

NASCAR has to judge those situations individually.

But NASCAR also cannot have it both ways.

Rivalries have always been part of why stock-car racing works.

Dale Earnhardt didn't become Dale Earnhardt because everyone loved everything he did.

Tony Stewart didn't build a fanbase by politely agreeing with everyone.

Kyle Busch spent years entering racetracks with thousands of people actively hoping somebody would beat him.

That emotion matters.

Hocevar seems to understand that better than most young drivers. He has repeatedly said he sees value in the attention and acknowledged before Gateway that the rivalry was reaching people outside NASCAR's normal audience.

Keselowski understands it too.

He told NASCAR before the race that bad blood can sometimes be good for the sport, while also making it clear he wasn't going to allow himself to be pushed around simply because Hocevar is competing in The Chase and he isn't.

Gateway ultimately gave us the buildup without the payoff.

Hocevar appeared noticeably careful around the No. 6 during portions of the race. Our crew joked that for somebody who supposedly wasn't worried about Keselowski, the No. 77 was giving him plenty of room.

Keselowski didn't force the issue either.

Instead, both drivers put together strong afternoons. Hocevar finished eighth. Keselowski started 23rd, led 55 laps and finished 12th.

So maybe nothing happens.

Maybe they race each other for the rest of the year, slowly forget about Darlington and everyone moves on.

We doubt it.

The championship situation actually makes waiting more interesting.

Hocevar is still competing in The Chase. Keselowski isn't.

That means Brad controls when — or whether — this story gets another chapter.

He doesn't need to rush it.

And if something eventually happens at Bristol, Talladega, Martinsville or somewhere else on the schedule, NASCAR will have a decision to make.

That's where we want consistency.

If a driver crosses the line into something genuinely dangerous, punish him.

But if NASCAR wants old-school rivalries, promotes old-school rivalries and makes those rivalries part of the television product, don't suddenly pretend old-school consequences are beneath the sport.

You sold the fight.

You don't get to act surprised when somebody finally throws a punch.