The most shocking moment from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway was not the on-track collision itself. It was what happened after the checkered flag. Zane Smith slammed into Carson Hocevar on the cool-down lap, hitting him at speeds near 140 miles per hour. This violent retaliation came even after Smith’s own team radioed him with the truth about who started the trouble.
According to Motorsport.com NASCAR Cup, Smith was running eighth with 15 laps to go when the chaos began. Carson Hocevar’s black No. 77 slid upward, striking the side of Josh Berry’s No. 21 and the rear of Smith’s No. 38. All three cars lost several positions in the field. The driver who actually caused the mess was the No. 1 of Ross Chastain.
A Radio Call That Changed Everything
Smith’s crew initially told him that Hocevar had missed the corner and caused the wreck. That story changed fast. As Smith parked his car on pit road, Front Row Motorsports radioed him with new information. They said: “Just so you know, the 1 [Chastain] was apparently the one who shipped the 77 [Hocevar] into us.” The team made it clear that Chastain was the real culprit who bumped Hocevar into Smith.
Smith’s reaction to this new information was instant and cold. He did not care that his team told him the truth about Chastain. “I don’t give an f*,” he replied to the radio call. That single phrase sums up the anger boiling over in the garage. The rivalry between these two drivers has been building for a long time, and this incident poured gas on the fire.
The Speed of the Retaliation
The physical result of that anger was a high-speed crash on a lap meant for cooling down. Smith quickly ran down Hocevar after the race ended. He gassed up to 140mph and slammed into the back of Hocevar’s car. At impact, the Front Row Motorsports driver was traveling roughly 30mph faster than Hocevar. That is a massive difference in speed for a cool-down lap where drivers usually slow way down.
While Smith was driving away with rage, the radio in Hocevar’s car told a different story about the crash. Via the No. 77 radio, Hocevar’s crew chief told the spotter to ensure they understood that the damn 1 car [Chastain] had shipped them and attempted to crash them all. Both drivers ended up with lower finishes than they started, with Smith finishing 15th and Hocevar 12th.
This incident shows that personal grudges in NASCAR can override basic logic and team advice. Smith knew the truth about the crash before he hit Hocevar, yet he chose violence anyway. That is not how the game is supposed to be played. Fans want to see skill and fair competition, not drivers using their cars as weapons against rivals. When a driver decides to ignore the facts and settle scores on the track, it hurts the sport.
The rivalry between Smith and Hocevar has been bitter for some time, and this crash proves it is not going away soon. Drivers need to keep their cool and let the officials handle the penalties. Taking matters into your own hands on the cool-down lap creates danger for everyone in the garage. The sport needs leaders who show respect, not drivers who hit each other at 140mph.