NASCAR has fined Zane Smith $50,000 for hitting Carson Hocevar after the checkered flag waved in last weekend’s Cup race at Phoenix Raceway.
This is the first incident between the two since NASCAR met with them at Atlanta in July and told them there would be consequences if they didn’t halt their on-track issues. That meeting occurred after the Chicagoland race where Smith hit Hocevar in the rear, wrecking both of them during the event. After the July NASCAR meeting, Smith said, “I just don’t like him (Hocevar) as a human. I think we both understand where we’re at with everything, but certainly, the meeting doesn’t change how much he dislikes me and how much I dislike him.”
During this week’s episode of the Hauler Talk podcast, NASCAR Vice President of Racing Communications Mike Forde said Tuesday’s penalty was issued because the two drivers had been warned after the Chicagoland run-in.
“We don’t typically like talking about what we tell those drivers in the hauler,” Forde said. “But in this case, pretty much the message was this: If you guys can’t figure it out, we will help you figure it out. And they couldn’t figure it out. So, this is us pretty much helping. Zane Smith figured it out a little bit in the form of a $50,000 fine.
‘“When we have drivers called into the hauler like that, we don’t have it often, but when we feel like it’s necessary, we’re serious about those conversations.”
It was the second consecutive week two drivers have intentionally hit each other after the checkered flag. After the Charlotte race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran into Michael McDowell. NASCAR had a “lengthy discussion” before deciding not to issue any penalties in the Stenhouse-McDowell incident. It was decided that incident quickly ended in the pits and was viewed as a heat of the moment situation.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.