NASCAR Meeting With Multiple Drivers After Chicagoland Clash
What’s Happening? With NASCAR opting not to penalize Shane van Gisbergen after his wreck with Austin Hill at Chicagoland, NASCAR exec…
Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith might have reignited the flames of a rivalry with Carson Hocevar during a recent podcast interview in which he labeled the former Rookie of the Year a “coward.”
While most NASCAR fans were focused on the short back-and-forth shared by Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill during this past Sunday’s race at Chicagoland Speedway, another heated exchange has now blown up days after the race.
On lap 32, with Hocevar running in front of Smith, the No. 77 got turned coming out of turn two.
Even though Smith was not penalized for this action, NASCAR execs have already revealed that he and Hocevar (along with van Gisbergen and Hill) will meet with officials this weekend in Atlanta.
What’s Happening? With NASCAR opting not to penalize Shane van Gisbergen after his wreck with Austin Hill at Chicagoland, NASCAR exec…
While both sets of drivers have a history, SVG and Hill’s moment seemed the more heated of the two as they left Chicagoland. Now, NASCAR officials will have a bit more to add to Smith’s chat following an appearance on the Racin’ With The Boys Podcast.
During this episode, Smith and 23XI driver Riley Herbst played a game with host Will Compton where they had to describe a driver with one word.
When Hocevar’s picture popped up, Smith went right for the throat, calling Hocevar a “Bum Fuck.”
As the conversation continued, with Compton pressing Smith about Hocevar, the Front Row Motorsports driver went after fans of the No. 77, comparing them to the often memed computer guy from South Park.
“His fans are the worst part. Have you ever seen the South Park huge guy that’s like typing on the keyboard? Those are like all his fans,” — Zane Smith.
Smith didn’t stop here, somewhat taking over the discussion of Hocevar from Herbst, and letting his true feelings out, claiming that while Hocevar acts aloof off track and online, he still tries to be friendly at the track.
“He’ll try to talk to you after saying, ‘I don’t talk to anybody out there,'” Smith said. “Like he’s full of shit.”
Of course, when Hocevar gets on track, Smith alleges that his attitude changes, again claiming that his former teammate is buddy-buddy with everyone and then will “have a run-in” with drivers.
“He tries to be your buddy and then will go and screw you, and so it’s like, just don’t talk to me in the first place because, one, I don’t like you, and we’re going to eventually have a run-in together, so let’s just not talk in the first place.” — Zane Smith
The buck didn’t stop there, as Smith recounted a past run-in with Hocevar at Iowa, where he says that hard racing between him and Hocevar was not only bad for the No. 38 but also for both drivers.
“Me and him had a run-in together at Iowa, and we’ve raced hard and whatnot, and there’s a difference between. . . certain guys will race you hard, he’ll just put us both in a bad spot to where it’s just costing us lap time. . . neither of us are benefiting from it, so that part gets frustrating,” Smith said.
Tacking on to that anecdote, Smith says that after racing a driver too aggressively or even wrecking them, Hocevar will try to play the “nice guy” afterward on track, then revert to his more aloof personality online after the race.
“I remember so like [Hocevar] made a mistake or I don’t know if he made a mistake, but wrecked us, and then he spends the rest of the race waving at me like playing nice guy of, ‘Oh man, I’m so sorry, so sorry,'” Smith said. “And then [Hocevar] goes on social media and posts like ‘admit one, like I don’t give a fuck.'”
Smith saved his strongest statement for last, claiming that Hocevar hides behind his online persona, calling the former Rookie of the Year a coward and telling him to “act that way in person.”
“If you’re going to be the guy, hiding behind social media, I don’t know. That’s a coward in my opinion. Like, act that way in person, say that to my face. . . I’m going to be the same way, but don’t be one way in person and then hide behind your phone.” — Zane Smith
Ironically, while clips of this interview were circling NASCAR social media, another clip, taken from Hocevar’s Twitch stream, was also making the rounds.
In this clip, when asked by a viewer, “What’s Zane’s problem?” Hocevar charismatically said, “I don’t know, man, maybe his t-shirt sales were low, I don’t know. Who cares!”
Though Hocevar may have been trying to push aside any issues with Smith in the same way he has done with other drivers in the past, this one could be personal, as Smith has now taken a stand of his own.
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