Editor’s Note: The “Racin’ With The Boys” podcast contains explicit language.
Zane Smith has remained abundantly clear: He is not a Carson Hocevar fan.
The driver of the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford reemphasized that point in a new episode of “Racin’ With The Boys,” alongside fellow driver Riley Herbst and show host Taylor Lewan, which debuted Thursday.
MORE: Cup standings | EchoPark schedule
Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and a frequent topic of conversation because of his on-track aggression, came up in an exercise in which Lewan asked his guests to describe a driver in one word. Smith didn’t hesitate to call him a “bum-[expletive]” before later explaining his disdain for Hocevar.
“You’ll have run-ins with certain guys, and you’ll have that throughout your career with certain people,” Smith said. “He’ll try to talk to you after saying, ‘Oh, I don’t talk to anybody out there.’ But he’s full of [expletive]. He tries to be your buddy and then will go and screw you. Like, just don’t talk to me in the first place because, one, I don’t like you, and we’re gonna eventually have a run-in together, so let’s just not talk in the first place.”
There is a history of animosity between the pair. During last year’s race at Iowa Speedway, contact from Hocevar sent Smith crashing into the wall, ruining Smith’s day. One week later, Smith shared similar thoughts on Hocevar, and those feelings do not appear to have cooled a year later. Last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, Smith made contact with Hocevar on Lap 32, sending both drivers up the track and into the wall. Each made his 100th career NASCAR Cup Series start that evening.
MORE: Watch NASCAR video highlights
“Honestly, my approach with Carson — because he’s fast — me and him had a run-in at Iowa, and we’ve raced hard and whatnot,” Smith said. “And there’s a difference (because) certain guys will race you hard, but he’ll just put us both in a bad spot to where it’s costing us lap time and neither of us are benefiting from it. That part gets frustrating. But I remember he made a mistake — I don’t know if he made a mistake — but he wrecked us and then spends the rest of the race waving at me like playing nice guy of, ‘So sorry! I’m so sorry!’ Then he goes on social media and posts like ‘Admit One’ like ‘I don’t give a [expletive].’ “
“Like ‘take a number,’ ” Herbst added.
Hocevar addressed their most recent run-in during a Wednesday night Twitch stream after a question was posed in the live chat.
“What’s Zane’s problem? I don‘t know, man, maybe his T-shirt sales were low,” Hocevar said. “I don‘t know. Who cares?”
Smith said Hocevar puts on “an act to get people to buy in,” which Smith takes exception to.
“It’s like if you’re going to be the guy like hiding behind social media, like I don’t know. That’s a coward in my opinion,” Smith said. “Like, act that way in person. Say that to my face. And it’s like, all right, I’m going to be the same way. But don’t be one way in person and then hide behind your phone. …
“You don’t try to go down a road of like, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope he gets wrecked,’ or something like that. You’re focused on your own race. But it’s just the hiding behind the phone is what’s the most annoying part.”
RELATED: Smith: ‘Treat him like he’d treat me’
Drivers have not shied away from weighing in on Hocevar’s persona, including on Lewan’s show.
“Every single driver that’s come on this bus — and you guys have been the most blunt about it — but after, will be like, ‘no dude, [expletive] that guy. The way he drives,’ all this,” Lewan said. “I think [Kyle] Larson basically said, ‘I don’t respect the guy because of the way he drives.’ And [there’s] something about some dude just solely sitting on an island and being hated by everybody — essentially being the Joker from Batman — he’s just like [expletive] it.”
NASCAR reviewed the contact between Smith and Hocevar after Chicagoland and issued no penalties. The two drivers, however, will meet with NASCAR officials prior to Sunday’s race at EchoPark Speedway (7 p.m. ET, TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).