The NASCAR feud between drivers Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar is definitely real, as Smith made clear Saturday when he was asked for his reaction to Hocevar’s suspension from this weekend’s Cup championship race.
“Glad he got some karma,” Smith stated, as quoted by Athletic reporter Jeff Gluck.
The remark adds another installment in the ongoing Smith-Hocevar drama, following a season of collisions, a NASCAR hauler warning and a $50,000 fine, with the feud between the two drivers still unresolved.
“Yeah, I suppose so. I mean, I don’t care less if he’s here or not, but yeah. Glad he got some karma,” Smith said at Homestead-Miami Speedway when asked if the suspension was the first real consequence Hocevar has faced.
Smith also addressed his own penalty.
“Frustrated, especially at this time of year,” he said of the $50,000 fine NASCAR handed him for ramming Hocevar’s car on the cool-down lap after the Oct. 18 race at Phoenix Raceway.
Smith, 27, is a Huntington Beach, California, native who drives the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports. He won the 2022 Craftsman Truck Series championship with the organization after finishing second in the standings in both 2020 and 2021 for GMS Racing.
He ran his rookie Cup season in 2024 for Spire Motorsports, where Hocevar was a teammate, before returning to Front Row Motorsports in 2025.
Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar’s Bitter History
The friction began in earnest last August at Iowa Speedway, where Hocevar’s car got loose entering Turn 1, slid up the track and hit the back left corner of Smith’s car. Smith spun into the SAFER barrier.
“I personally can’t go have a conversation with him without getting a $75,000 fine,” Smith told NASCAR.com at Watkins Glen a week later.
The feud turned more personal this summer. Smith hit Hocevar on Lap 32 of the July 5 race at Chicagoland Speedway, and NASCAR summoned both drivers to the hauler at EchoPark Speedway the following week with a warning to settle matters themselves.
“I just don’t like him as a human,” Smith told reporters after the meeting.
Smith also used the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast to call Hocevar a “coward”. He argued that Hocevar’s apologetic wave at Iowa did not match the social media posts that followed. Hocevar has called the rivalry one-sided and said he does not care.
The latest flashpoint came at Phoenix, where Ross Chastain’s contact sent Hocevar into Smith and Josh Berry. Smith rammed Hocevar after the race, drawing a fine that cited the earlier warning. Smith chose not to appeal.
Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar Suspension and Fines After Martinsville
Hocevar brake-checked Austin Cindric multiple times in the second stage of the Nov. 1 race at Martinsville Speedway, wrecking the front end of Cindric’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford.
Spire Motorsports suspended Hocevar for Sunday’s finale Tuesday, with Justin Haley taking over the No. 77 Chevrolet.
“The way Carson conducted himself at Martinsville doesn’t meet the standard we set for our drivers, team members or employees,” co-owner Jeff Dickerson said in a statement.
NASCAR then fined Hocevar $100,000 and docked 25 points for actions detrimental to stock car racing and multiple code-of-conduct violations. Berry received a $50,000 fine and the same point deduction for brake-checking Ryan Blaney.
Hocevar first dismissed the incident as “just Martinsville,” then posted an 18-minute YouTube video Thursday. “I’m the bad guy. I made the mistake, I forced their decision,” he said, apologizing to Cindric, Spire employees and fans.
At Friday’s news conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Hocevar said, “I did this,” and described the suspension as having “lost the keys to my car for this weekend.” He declined to explain why he did it.
NASCAR Driver Zane Smith Doesn’t Hold Back on Carson Hocevar Punishment: ‘Karma’