HMS Legend Clears Brad Keselowski & Carson Hocevar of Blame as He Pinpoints True Culprit Behind Denny Hamlin's Misery

A former NASCAR team leader, Steve Letarte, said that road-course chaos—not Carson Hocevar specifically—was the main cause of the incident that ruined Denny Hamlin’s race in Sonoma. Hamlin, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was running seventh on Lap 64 during a restart when he was spun into Turn 7 and finished 26th. Early reaction blamed Hocevar, whose aggressive driving reputation often draws criticism, but Letarte said a chain of contacts behind him told a different story. According to the explanation, Alex Bowman (No. 48) touched Brad Keselowski (No. 6), and Keselowski was pushed into Hocevar’s No. 77, which then sent Hocevar into Hamlin. Letarte linked such outcomes to modern restarts, when cars are packed tightly into heavy-braking zones right after green. Hamlin said the car had pace for top five, but poor restarts and contact knocked off the splitter and cost downforce.