Zane Smith admits he wanted to “punch” Carson Hocevar in the face and reveals why he held back

Zane Smith would have loved to punch fellow racer Carson Hocevar in his face for whatever the latter did to him at Iowa earlier this year. But he didn’t, as stuff like that never escapes NASCAR’s radar.

Smith felt like there was no use talking things out with Hocevar, as the Spire Motorsports driver just doesn’t care. When asked if he had spoken with Hocevar after their Iowa wreck, Smith said on the Stacking Pennies podcast:

“I didn't talk to him, and it's just you're not going to get anything from it. I don't really know how else you can explain that. I mean, yeah, you wanna go up to him and punch him in the face, but that's $75,000, and that's not very cool.”

Last year, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. suffered a $75,000 NASCAR fine for punching Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro Speedway. It also got two of his crew members suspended for violating sections 4.4 D of the NASCAR Rule Book, the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct.

Needless to say, Smith doesn’t want that for himself or his team. He is currently in his sophomore season driving the No. 38 machine for Front Row Motorsports. Neither Smith nor Carson Hocevar could make the playoffs this year, but they still can contend for a win. Twenty-nine races into the season, Zane Smith sits 27th in the drivers' standings with 519 points. Hocevar, meanwhile, is 24th with 577 points.

Next up for the drivers is the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Scheduled for this coming Sunday, September 21, the 301-lap event will be televised on USA (2 p.m. ET) with live radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

When Carson Hocevar was fined for comments made in a livestream

Carson Hocevar was fined by his own team during the NASCAR visit to Mexico earlier this season. His comments while iRacing and live-streaming on Twitch received immediate pushback from the entire community.

Per reports, Hocevar allegedly used the word “sh**hole” during the livestream. As a result, after an internal review of the incident, Spire Motorsports charged him with a $50,000 fine.

In an official statement explaining their decision to penalise Hocevar, Spire Motorsports wrote:

“Carson Hocevar’s recent comments made during the livestream fell short of that standard. They did not represent the views of Spire Motorsports, our partners, or NASCAR."

“He has acknowledged his mistake publicly, and his prompt, sincere apology demonstrated personal accountability. We now take this additional step to underscore that words carry weight, and respect must be lived out loud,” it added.

The fine money was distributed between three Mexican-based charities: Cruz Roja Mexicana, Un Kilo de Ayuda, and Fondo Unido México. Carson Hocevar also had to undergo mandatory cultural sensitivity and bias-awareness training.