Zane Smith intentionally drove into Carson Hocevar at Chicagoland Speedway. The move wrecked both cars. Smith finished 28th. He spent the next week calling Hocevar a coward on a podcast. When NASCAR put them both in a hauler to sort it out, Smith walked out and said nothing had changed. Hocevar left cracking jokes.
“We’ll have to go to couples counseling,” Hocevar said. “A lot of times with your partner and everything, you don’t see it.”
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Hocevar claimed he had no idea Smith hated him this much. The anger caught him off guard. He tried to figure out what he did wrong, but came up empty.
“I didn’t know it ever started.”
This goes back to Iowa in August 2025. Carson Hocevar got loose and clipped Smith into the wall. Smith tried to retaliate under caution, missed, and then his crew chief went after Hocevar on pit road. Hocevar posted a Drake song online. A few weeks later, at Watkins Glen, he pulled over and let Smith pass and told him things would be cleaner going forward. Smith, clearly, did not feel the same way.
June 2026, they got drawn against each other in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge at Sonoma. Hocevar won. Chicagoland was next. There, Smith retaliated. He wrecked his own car in the process, then went public with his anger. He called Hocevar two-faced. Smith claimed Hocevar plays nice in the garage and runs people over on the track, then lets his fans do the dirty work online. At the track the next weekend, he cut it down to one sentence.
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“I just don’t like him as a human,” Smith said.
The hauler meeting did nothing. Smith said so himself. However, NASCAR issued a stern warning. Officials told both drivers that the next incident would trigger strict penalties. They face heavy fines, point deductions, or even a suspension. Currently, there are no pending investigations or formal complaints beyond this warning. But NASCAR is closely monitoring every move they make.
But here is the problem. Carson Hocevar is 9th in the standings. He has one win and seven top-10s. He is 117 points clear of the playoff cutline. Smith is 23rd. No wins. Not even close to the playoffs. At EchoPark, where cars run door-to-door for 260 laps, Smith can take a shot at Hocevar since he has nothing to lose. Not saying he would, but putting the stakes into perspective.
Carson Hocevar cannot say the same. One bad wreck and his playoff spot takes a serious hit, but Hocevar claims he is not worried. Not going to fight anyone, and just going to race clean.
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Smith says he will race Hocevar with zero respect. One of them is playing chess. The other one is still angry. And right now, the angry one has nothing to lose.
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The post “We’ll Have to Go to Couples Counseling”– Sarcastic Carson Hocevar Humiliates Zane Smith Over Personal Hatred appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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