This week, two moments of apparent payback have dominated discourse in the NASCAR world, with Shane van Gisbergen vs. Austin Hill and Zane Smith vs. Carson Hocevar. No penalties were issued for other moment of frustration.
In Zane’s situation, he actually ended up wrecking himself in the process of bumping Hocevar into the wall, and ultimately finished behind the driver who drew his ire.
Advertisement
Payback is nothing new in NASCAR, and there’s plenty of occasions when the aggressor ended up destroying their own race as much as or even more than the target of their anger.
We decided to highlight a few of the more infamous ones from the not-so-distant past in the Cup Series:
This is the incident that always comes to mind when payback goes wrong, even well over a decade later. While battling Cassill for position, Danica got frustrated and hit him from behind entering Turn 1. After pushing him up the track, she then aimed for the left-rear fender and hit him again. Cassill spun, but hit nothing. However, the same cannot be said for Danica, who also spun as she checked up for the incident. Once the No. 10 car spun onto the apron, she over-corrected and the car snapped back up the track, slamming the outside wall and ending her race. On the radio, Cassill famously said: “The No. 1 rule of stock car racing is learn how to wreck someone without wrecking yourself.”
Advertisement
While racing side-by-side, Larson washed up the track and pushed Wallace into the wall. Impulsively, Wallace turned down the track in anger, right-hooking Larson into the outside wall, and himself along with him. Making matters worse, he also collected fellow Toyota driver and title hopeful Christopher Bell. He then confronted Larson in the infield and there was a brief scuffle, with Wallace getting parked for one race as punishment for the incident.
Advertisement
This incident was very similar to Wallace/Larson, and happened just a few months later. In NASCAR’s longest race, Hamlin pushed Elliott into the wall at the exit of Turn 4 after washing up in a battle for position. Once again, the offended driver (Elliott) then turned down into Hamlin, turning him nearly head-on into the outside wall, and wrecking his own car in the process. Just like Wallace, Elliott — NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver — was suspended for one race due to the severity of the incident.
Advertisement
David Reutimann vs. Kyle Busch (Kansas 2010)
On Lap 53 of this race, Busch sent Reutimann spinning, damaging the ‘Aaron’s Dream Machine’ as we called it then. Over 100 laps later, Reutimann attempted to get payback, and slammed Busch at the exit of Turn 2. Well, if he was trying to spin out KB, he was a bit too far up along the door. Instead, Reutimann went spinning for the second time that day while Busch continued on. He did manage to also damage Busch’s car with the impact though, and Busch went on to be the lowest-finishing of the Chase drivers.
Advertisement
Jeff Burton vs. Jeff Gordon (Texas 2010)
After Gordon ran Burton wide, a caution came out for a separate incident around the track. Now fuming, Burton decided to show his displeasure with Gordon. Many years later, he admitted that he intended to hit the No. 24, but did not intend for it to end with the two of them slamming the wall. But that’s exactly what happened, as they got hooked together and crashed hard at the exit of Turn 2 while under yellow. Gordon then approached Burton and starting brawling with him on the backstretch.
Advertisement
Vickers was involved in several incidents during this race, and was listed as being part of five different cautions! On Lap 459, Kenseth sent Vickers spinning in one of those yellows, and on Lap 494, Vickers found Kenseth again around the tight half-mile. Kenseth was running low and out of the racing line, but Vickers deliberately turned down the track, appearing to aim for him. Well, whatever he imagined happening next did not go according to plan. Kenseth slowed and Vickers plowed into the back of him, but it was Vickers’ own car that was destroyed in the contact, and his race was now over.
Advertisement
Newman bumped Gilliland out of the way at the exit of Turn 2 at the Monster Mile, but there’s really nowhere for an out-of-control car to go at a place Dover except the wall. Gilliland bounced off the outside wall and right back into Newman’s lap, completely destroying both cars as they tangled together. They were battling for 24th, but both ended up with DNFs after the run-in.
Kevin Harvick vs. Chase Elliott (2021 Charlotte Roval)
This is a unique one, as Harvick didn’t actually wreck himself while trying to pay Elliott back. It was actually worse. Both were playoff drivers in an elimination race during the knockout era, and Harvick decided to deliver some payback on Elliott. He hit the No. 9, knocking him into the wall, but only wounding the Hendrick driver’s machine. Elliott was still in the race, and he was on the hunt for the No 4. When he finally reached him with just 11 laps to go in the race, Harvick was +1 in the fight to advance into the next round of the playoffs. But seeing Elliott back behind him caused the veteran driver to make a rare error in anticipation of payback, blowing the entry to Turn 1 and wrecking himself into the wall. Elliott never got close to touching him. After the race, Elliott now-famously said: “I just want to wish them (Harvick) a Merry off-season and a happy Christmas.”
Advertisement
Jeff Gordon vs. Clint Bowyer (Phoenix 2012)
In this case, we don’t think Gordon really cared that he wrecked himself. After getting pushed into the wall by Bowyer, a year-long feud exploded in the penultimate race of the 2012 season. Bowyer was in title contention, but that didn’t stop Gordon, who took revenge for their latest run-in just seven laps later. He turned down into Bowyer while being lapped, turning him head-on into the wall. Matt Kenseth and Aric Almirola — who had nothing to do with the feud — were also collected in the melee. But what followed was even messier than the on-track incident, as the teams brawled back in the garage, and Bowyer had to be restrained as he sprinted to the No. 24 hauler to fight Gordon.
Advertisement
Zane Smith vs. Carson Hocevar (2026 Chicagoland)
Watch: In-car cameras: Smith makes contact with Hocevar
And of course, the most recent incident, which inspired us at Motorsport.com to make this list. Smith actually tried to wreck Hocevar in a race earlier this year at Nashville, but missed. This time, he definitely got him, but damaged his own car in the process. While battling for position, Smith drove in deep, slamming into the back of Hocevar’s car. However, as Hocevar slid up into the wall, Smith’s car followed suit, spinning and damaging both ends of it as he lost control. Hocevar limped onward to a 22nd place finish, but Smith’s own damage was even worse, finishing 28th. That brought on criticism from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who later reached out to Zane but got no reply. “I like the aggression, but you just can’t wreck yourself …He puts too much effort into this to do that to himself.”
Advertisement
Kyle Busch vs. Ron Hornaday (Trucks at Texas 2011)
While this list is focusing on Cup incidents, we still just had to include this infamous moment. Just 14 laps into this NASCAR Craftsman Truck race, Busch was battling Hornaday when the latter slipped up the track, and both hit the wall. The caution was out, and neither suffered race-ending damage. However, ‘Rowdy’ Busch was seeing red, and ignored the pleas of his team as he ran into the back of Hornaday, before hooking him head on into the outside wall — Busch’s own truck going with him. Their races were over, Hornaday’s title hopes were dashed, and Busch was parked for the remainder of the race weekend.
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
Read the full article here