TALLADEGA, Ala. — Carson Hocevar opened up about last week’s post-race altercation with rival Zane Smith, saying that he had little interest in ironing out the differences with his rival moving forward.
“No, it seems pretty one-sided to me a little bit,” Hocevar said. “So I don’t really care. I mean, yeah, I don’t care.”
Hocevar’s remarks came Saturday morning on the eve of Sunday’s YellaWood 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Talladega Superspeedway, where the 23-year-old driver scored an emotional first NASCAR Cup Series victory last April. That win and his unique celebration from the window of his car helped raise his profile, and his season-long performance has carried him into The Chase presented by Mobil 1 field.
RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Talladega
Hocevar placed 12th last weekend at Phoenix, but his late-race drive was marked by contact between his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford as they battled on the fringes of the top 10. Contact from Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Chevy appeared to knock Hocevar’s car into Smith’s, and though his team attempted to relay that message, Smith was undeterred in exacting revenge after taking 15th at the checkered flag.
Smith rammed into the back of Hocevar’s No. 77 shortly after the race ended, using enough force to bow the hood of his No. 38 Ford. Competition officials, who had spoken to the two drivers in the NASCAR hauler in an attempt to calm the friction from a run-in this summer at Chicagoland, fined Smith $50,000 on Tuesday for his Phoenix actions.
MORE: Full recap of Hocevar, Smith contact
Hocevar said the jarring nature of Smith’s post-race bump took him by surprise.
“For me, it was just unexpected,” Hocevar said. “I was looking around, and I think I was like looking down, and like I hit, and I mean, my mindset was like, ‘Oh [expletive], who did I just run into?’ because I thought somebody stopped in front of me, and then I looked around in front of me, and there was nobody in front of me. I was like, OK, and I looked behind me, and I was like, ‘Oh, I got hit.’ “
Front Row Motorsports representatives declined an interview request for Smith to offer his version of events this weekend. The team did not appeal the penalty and released no statement, other than posting “lol 77 is gonna 77” on its social media accounts during last Sunday’s race.
Though that feud lingers, Hocevar said no such ill will persists in his connection to Ryan Blaney, five weeks after the two exchanged fisticuffs post-race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The two drivers were shown all smiles and sharing friendly banter in last weekend’s pre-race ceremonies at Phoenix, and both reiterated Saturday that their Bristol Night Race conflict was a blip — albeit a large, headline-grabbing one — in their overall relationship, and that Hocevar had tried to use his automotive connections to help facilitate the possible sale of a Ferrari to Blaney, an interested buyer. “I mean, we were cool before,” Hocevar says.
WATCH: Hocevar explains growing relationship with Blaney since Bristol
Blaney noted how their on-track encounters have actually improved in the weeks since the squabble.
“I mean, I don’t walk around with a grudge on my shoulder,” Blaney said. “Like, I get over that stuff and go out. And the funny thing is, we had our little mix-up at Bristol, and we’ve raced each other even better than when we were before, which we really didn’t have any problems before. So yeah, I mean it really hasn’t changed at all.”
What has changed is Hocevar’s status from a contender to the ranks of Cup Series winners. The memories from that spring day have since come rushing back, he said, and he’s bringing reinforcements for his cheering section in the return trip.
“My life hasn’t been the same, but it’s just more fun because a lot of it is very visual memories,” Hocevar said. “I remember what everything looks like and what we experienced and all. A lot of my friends … I’m glad I won here, of all places. My agent was like, ‘Man, with Carson winning, everybody wants to come here, all his friends want VIP passes.’ I was like, ‘Dude, it’s Talladega. They were gonna come anyways.’ … It’s by far the most fun track you could play your first one at.”