Carson Hocevar's Iowa controversy proves NASCAR 'villain' double standard

Every sport needs a good villain.

A few years ago, the NASCAR Cup Series had Ross Chastain. Seemingly every week he was involved in some sort of on-track controversy, to the point where the headlines became less about what he did and more about simply the fact that he was the one involved.

Chastain has since flown much more under the radar, but a new black hat has emerged: a young, babyfaced 22-year-old from Portage, Michigan who is living rent free in all of his competitors' heads. That was clearer than ever in the aftermath of Sunday's Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.

Carson Hocevar was far from the biggest weapon at Iowa, but got all of the attention anyway

Sunday's race featured a period of action during which there were 11 caution flags in a span of exactly 100 laps. Exactly one of those incidents featured Hocevar as the culprit, when he spun Zane Smith into the outside wall.

Elsewhere during this stretch, Chase Briscoe, who went on to finish second, was responsible for causing multiple wrecks.

Some of the sport's biggest names, such as Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell, all spun either somebody else or themselves at some point or another. It was an overall embarrassing display of racing, and the so-called "best drivers in the world" should be held to a much higher standard.

Yet when all was said and done, the only guy with whom anyone had an axe to grind was Hocevar. He found himself being confronted on pit road by Smith's crew chief, Ryan Bergenty, and naturally, this is what all of the online NASCAR world was talking about on Monday.

Forget that after their contact, Smith attempted to intentionally retaliate against Hocevar (and failed miserably). Forget that the Spire Motorsports driver was only buried deep in traffic to begin with because he had himself been spun earlier by John Hunter Nemechek.

The narrative has been written that he is the bad guy, and so therefore, he must always be the bad guy.

And to Hocevar's credit, he embraces the role. He's unapologetic about who he is and doesn't pretend otherwise. He knows he's not very popular with the rest of the garage, and he doesn't care. He's not here to make friends.

Hocevar has yet to win a race at the Cup Series level, but at only midway into his second season with a still developing Spire Motorsports team, no one could have reasonably expected otherwise. His talent is undeniable, and his abrasive personality makes the sport more interesting.

You know you're a good villain when even your smallest misstep sparks major controversy. Hocevar has officially reached that territory, and whether you're a fan or not, he's not going to change.