NASCAR Driver Lashes Out at Dale Jr’s Star Driver Doubling Down on “Hypocrite” Tag

The 2025 Pacific Automation 147 at Portland delivered drama in spades. Undoubtedly, the biggest storyline was rookie sensation Connor Zilisch, fresh off collarbone surgery, piloting his No. 88 Chevrolet to clinch his eighth win of the season. Yet, it was an on-track contact between Nick Sanchez, who executed a gritty third-place finish, and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith that took the cake. Notably, during an overtime restart, Sanchez was trying to make a pass in a four-wide battle entering Turn 1. However, he hit the right rear of Smith, spinning him onto traffic. As expected, after the checkered flag waved, Smith (P22) was seething and confronted Sanchez on pit road.

While their conversation was largely inaudible, what happened later clearly set the tone for the brewing tensions. In a conversation with Frontstretch, Sanchez said without taking names, “I think I started 8th on that restart, and I don’t know what everyone else was doing in the restart. Somehow, I ended up fighting for the lead and won. And just tried to break late, locked at both fronts, and it seems like everyone kind of went a little deep and from my perspective I thought he tried to make turn 2 and tried to come back right and… I don’t think we were making turn 2, and I think I right reared him.”

“So, obviously unfortunate, but everyone’s playing bumper tag, and I’m not saying it gives me the right to do that, but if you’re not the aggressor, you’re probably going to get wrecked. I also can’t understand…people that could dish it out but they can’t take it. So, I’m not here for hypocrites. I really don’t care,” he further reflected before adding, “I try to race everyone clean. I dodged a wreck on the previous restart and lost a bunch of spots. Four of them cleaned each other out in a 12, so at the end of the race, all bets are off. I hate to say it, turn one at Portland is… you’re asking for wrecks and I mean you just gotta be aggressive and, unfortunate that he got caught up in that. But I’m pretty sure he locked up both tires, and was probably missing the corner, too. So, you can’t really fault me for being aggressive and trying something right.”

It isn’t the first time Sanchez has visibly pushed back. In 2023, during his Truck Series rookie season, he had a heated altercation after contact with veteran Matt Crafton, including harsh words and crew confrontation, which resulted in Sanchez with a bloodied face. Reacting to the incident later, the young racer, handed a $5,000 fine had said, “Cheap shot, it is what it is, I guess. I’m all for fighting, but no cheap shots. I got a cheap shot, never really had a chance to get him back.” 

Crafton, on the other hand, was assessed a $25,000 penalty and not a suspension. The driver, in a social media statement later, alluded, “Here is what wasn’t caught on video… First, let’s address the “sucker punch.” Before the cameras started rolling I approached Nick and said “hey” when he turned around I said “what the —?!” to which he looked right at me and threatened me. That is when it all went to hell. I had his attention, words were exchanged, all before anything physical took place, so I did not “sucker punch” the guy. There may not be video, but there were plenty of eye witnesses. What people don’t take into account is that he all but “sucker punched” me at 200 mph.”

Having said that, in a season marked by fists, finishes, and fiery confrontations, Sanchez has made one thing clear: He is here to race, and he won’t back down.

NASCAR’s lost rule sparks Dale Jr.’s nostalgia

The Car of Tomorrow didn’t just change racing aerodynamics; it ushered in tandem drafting and a short-lived but unforgettable rule: driver-to-driver communication. Instead of only hearing the crew chiefs and spotters, drivers could jump on rival channels to talk smack, form alliances, or just laugh through the chaos. On his Dale Jr Download, the NASCAR Hall of Famer couldn’t help but miss it. “We wouldn’t be able to keep up with amount of entertaining sh-t we could put on the broadcast if the drivers talk back and forth,” he said. “It would just be chaos, it would be like, ‘Where do you turn?’ There would be so many conversations happening. Especially when something bad goes down, like the big wreck at Daytona on the front stretch.”

But unfiltered chatter brings its own chaos, but Dale Jr. already has a solution. “Well, they would be able to make the crew chief be the overriding dot. So any time the crew chief keyed up and talked or the spotter, it would override anything.” He even recalled his own setup, saying, “I had a harness in my car that would hook up to music. I could listen to music, sitting on pit road…You’d be in that line for 45 minutes…If Tony Jr had to say something or when I pull out on the track, they’d start talking and it’d override the music.”

Painting a lively picture of what could happen if the rule returned, Junior continued, “I think it would be cool to jump over on someone else’s radio and talk sh-t or high five them. They win the race, everybody’s jumping on their radio. It’d be like everybody talking over the top of each other. Congratulating that driver if they were very popular.” But he even admitted the novelty of the wear off. Whether it returns or not, Dale Jr.’s call proves that sometimes NASCAR’s most chaotic ideas are the ones fans miss the most.