Overview
- After the Cup race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, Zane Smith drove into the rear of Carson Hocevar on the cool-down lap, striking Hocevar at speed after earlier race contact.
- Smith reacted angrily when told Hocevar’s team blamed another car, replying “I don’t give a f***” as he left the track.
- Race replay and reporting say the earlier contact that collected Hocevar, Josh Berry and Zane Smith was a chain-reaction that began when Ross Chastain bumped Hocevar into Turn 3.
- Hocevar’s crew chief used team radio to single out Chastain, but NASCAR has handled the Smith–Hocevar feud case by case in the past and no new penalties were reported after Phoenix.
- The clash has raised safety and garage concerns about repeated postrace retaliation and has put pressure on NASCAR to set clearer boundaries for driver conduct on cooldown laps.