Last weekend’s Iowa Corn 350 may have been short on lead changes, but it delivered big on drama. Late in the race, Carson Hocevar got loose under Zane Smith entering Turn 1, clipping Smith’s car and sending it hard into the outside wall. The crash ended Smith’s day in a dismal 36th place, while Hocevar kept his cool and rallied to an eighth-place finish, crediting crew chief Luke Lambert and Spire Motorsports owner Jeff Dickerson for keeping the No. 77 competitive.

Hocevar insisted it was an accident, saying he was “going to spin myself” and Smith was just “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” But the real fireworks came post-race when Smith’s crew chief, Ryan Bergenty, stormed up to Hocevar on pit road, unleashing a profanity-laced tirade: “Hey, when are you going to learn how to f——- drive, dude? I mean, you wiped us the f— out.” The heated exchange, caught on camera, lit up social media and had the NASCAR world buzzing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., no stranger to garage drama, wasn’t thrilled about diving into yet another Hocevar controversy. On his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, he dropped a blunt two-word verdict on the mess: “That’s embarrassing.” 

Further, Earnhardt didn’t hide his weariness: “I am exhausted talking about Hocevar. I really wanted to move on and skip over this one, but apparently, the rest of the crew is just all just really enjoying the Hocevar train. He got loose and I guess he got loose underneath Zane and wrecked him, and then Zane tried to wreck him back, missed.”

The frustration is clear. Hocevar’s crash with Smith on Lap 229 was just the latest in a string of incidents. Trying to slide under Zane Smith, Hocevar’s No. 77 got loose, slamming Smith’s car into the wall and ending his race. Smith, fuming, took a swing at Hocevar under caution but missed, making his retaliation look more desperate than effective. Earnhardt’s exhaustion mirrors the garage’s growing irritation with Hocevar’s knack for stirring up trouble, especially after similar run-ins with LaJoie, Burton, and Dillon this year.

Earnhardt didn’t stop there: “He did miss, though. You can’t do that, though, and then Zane’s crew chief come up to Carson on pit road after the race, and we’ve seen this multiple times. I mean, Hocevar needs to hear from somebody, so I’m fine with that. That’s embarrassing.”

Earnhardt’s take nods to NASCAR’s unwritten rule: drivers need to police each other. But Hocevar’s cavalier Instagram post, with its “take a number” dig, shows he’s not backing down, which only fuels the cycle of confrontations.

His aggressive style and unapologetic attitude, like posting Drake’s “IDGAF” on Instagram, have made him a lightning rod. With Watkins Glen’s twisty road course up next, the fallout from Iowa is keeping the spotlight on Hocevar, and not always for the right reasons.

Tommy Baldwin reacts to the Iowa clash

The Iowa fallout didn’t just catch Earnhardt’s attention. Rick Ware Racing’s competition director, Tommy Baldwin, weighed in too, and he’s had it with Hocevar’s antics. On the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Baldwin said, “Look, it’s getting to the point where everyone’s getting aggravated at the 77. It might not be happening to them yet but when it does, they’re double aggravated because he’s doing it to everybody. Man, he had a really good car again yesterday and he finished well. But he hurt some people’s feelings again on the way.”

Bergenty’s pit-road outburst, where he blasted Hocevar for wiping out Smith’s No. 38, echoed a growing sentiment in the garage. Hocevar’s eighth-place finish showed his speed, but his wrecking of Smith, intentional or not, added to a rap sheet that includes clashes with Stenhouse Jr., Blaney, and Chastain this season. Baldwin’s frustration highlights how Hocevar’s aggression is wearing thin, even if his talent keeps him in the top 10.

Hocevar’s got the raw pace—back-to-back top 10s at Indy and Iowa prove it  — but his trail of “hurt feelings” is building a reputation that could haunt him. With Smith’s failed retaliation and Bergenty’s heated words, the Iowa clash is just another chapter in Hocevar’s polarizing story, and the garage is clearly ready for him to clean it up before Watkins Glen’s chaos adds more fuel to the fire.