Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith still at odds after NASCAR meeting
Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith remain at odds after a July 11 meeting with NASCAR officials at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The mandatory hauler talk followed Smith's Lap 32 contact with Hocevar at Chicagoland Speedway and did not soften their feud. Smith said the session changed nothing about how much they dislike each other.
The closed-door meeting came ahead of the Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart, with NASCAR trying to cool one of the Cup Series' hottest rivalries. Instead, both drivers walked away sounding as dug in as before.
Key Takeaways
- Smith and Hocevar met with NASCAR officials on July 11, 2026, at EchoPark Speedway after their Chicagoland crash.
- Smith told reporters he still dislikes Hocevar and that the meeting did not change their mutual animosity.
- NASCAR issued no penalty for the Chicagoland incident; officials opted for a hauler conversation instead.
- Hocevar mocked the feud with jokes about couples counseling and said penalizing Smith would have been soft.
- Veteran Kenny Wallace called the drama good for NASCAR, saying star rivalries can build fan engagement.
What happened at the NASCAR hauler meeting?
NASCAR brought Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar together with officials on Saturday, July 11, before qualifying at EchoPark Speedway. The session addressed contact on Lap 32 at Chicagoland Speedway, when Smith ran into the back of Hocevar in Turn 2 and sent both cars into the wall.
NASCAR.com reported the drivers remain at odds after the meeting. Jayski quoted Smith saying both drivers understand where things stand, yet the session "doesn't change how much he dislikes me and how much I dislike him."
Why does Zane Smith dislike Carson Hocevar?
Smith has been blunt for months. After qualifying, he told reporters, "I just don't like him," and Yahoo Sports quoted him saying, "I just don't like him as a human." The bad blood traces to Iowa in August 2025, when Hocevar clipped Smith into the wall, waved an apology during the race, and later posted a Drake meme about the incident.
Smith has accused Hocevar of acting friendly in person while talking differently online, calling that behavior cowardly. Tensions escalated again in June 2026 at Sonoma, when Hocevar knocked Smith out of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge bracket, and then exploded at Chicagoland in July when Smith admitted intentional payback.
How did Carson Hocevar respond?
Hocevar took the opposite tone. He joked that the pair may need couples counseling and suggested he was not even sure when the feud started. He also told NASCAR officials that if officials expected more trouble, Atlanta was an odd venue because intentionally wrecking someone on a fast drafting track is difficult.
Hocevar said he was unbothered by the Chicagoland incident and was glad NASCAR did not penalize Smith. "That'd be really soft of the sport," he said, adding, "Game on." For a rivalry that has spilled from the garage to podcasts and social media, the meeting changed the tone for exactly no one.
What did Kenny Wallace say about the feud?
NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace weighed in with a six-word verdict on the drama: "This is good for the sport." He compared Smith to past stars such as Denny Hamlin and Rusty Wallace, arguing that outspoken rivalries give fans someone to boo and someone to cheer.
Wallace added that boos at driver introductions, viral clips, and fans picking sides are part of the product, not a problem. With Smith finishing 28th and Hocevar 22nd at Chicagoland, the on-track scoreboard did not settle much either. For more offbeat sports drama, see our Bizarre News & Florida Man coverage.