In addition to a meeting with Shane Van Gisbergen and Austin Hill, NASCAR officials also called Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar into the Cup Series hauler to address their rivalry and what happened on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
Smith and Hocevar crashed on Lap 32, following a sequence of hard racing between them, resulting in both having their cars severely damaged. Since then, Smith has gone on a national sports podcast to discuss his disdain for Hocevar.
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That disdain was just as pointed on Saturday after that meeting in the hauler and when Smith spoke to the attending media at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“The meeting doesn’t change how much I dislike him and how much he dislikes me,” Smith said.
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Zane Smith bluntly calls out ‘coward’ Carson Hocevar and his fans
When asked by FOX Sports if the meeting ended the simmering tension, Smith said ‘yeah, sure,’ in a way that sounded anything but.
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Smith said he doesn’t like Hocevar on the track or off it.
“Both,” Smith said.
He also said he doesn’t expect them to be able to race each other without trouble.
Smith also got himself into trouble with passionate fans of Hocevar, who he also bluntly called out, while calling their favorite driver a two-faced ‘coward.’ He said Hocevar fans proved him right with how they responded to him on social media this past week.
“The comments and memes have been funny for sure,” Smith said. “But yeah, they’re all proving me right.”
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Smith said his tone will stay this way until Hocevar changes.
“I am just a big believer in racing you how you race me, so until he changes how he races me, that’s just how it’s going to be,” he said.
Smith also said he wasn’t trying to wreck Hocevar at Chicagoland.
“It’s hard racing and that’s fine, but what created a lot of anger at Chicagoland was our past,” Smith said. “He’s pointed me by a couple of times and then at Nashville, as soon as we were around each other, he runs into me and then points me by and talks crap to the media. I don’t know.”
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For his part, Hocevar didn’t even know why he was even called to the NASCAR hauler, since he was the one that was wrecked. He was full of jokes on Saturday, saying ‘we are going to have to go to couple’s therapy.’
Hocevar defended his fans.
“I think it’s a good thing that they are passionate,” Hocevar said. “I don’t see a lot of it but if they’re insulting someone other than something that goes on on the race track, I don’t condone that. We all look and sound, and are different, but that wouldn’t be cool.”
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Largely, Hocevar doesn’t even understand the rivalry and asked the media what even the genesis of the beef is.
Smith was once a teammate to Hocevar at Spire, on loan from Trackhouse, and that seems to be the source of some of it.
“Take it out on me, I guess, I’m fine with it.”
With that said, he embraces it.
“That’s what drives the sport – passion and clashing,” he said. “It’s good.”
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