Now that Bristol’s done, people already have headlines in Christopher Bell nailing a strong victory, four playoff racers getting eliminated, cars catching fire, and radio talks sizzling fiercer than the asphalt. Right in the thick of it, one racer, who usually lies low on the buzz meter, notched his top career result with a third-place finish. Enter Zane Smith, who launched his debut full Cup Series campaign in 2024 with Spire Motorsports before shifting over to Front Row Motorsports. Still, his Bristol glow faded behind whispers of a prior scuffle that’s lingering around the shop.

That showdown at Iowa Speedway against Carson Hocevar from back in the season caught everyone’s eye, with Hocevar’s pushy moves causing a hit in Turn 1, sparking his anger and a quick “idiot” tag afterward. It’s the kind of raw edge NASCAR thrives on, echoing Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s swing at Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro or Kevin Harvick’s fury after 2021 Bristol, where he talked about wanting to “rip somebody’s freaking head off.” Drivers lose their cool plenty, but Smith dialed it back, mulling the downsides hard. Even so, that choice masks some built-up irritation that needs airing out.

Inside Zane Smith’s restraint on the Carson Hocevar feud

Zane Smith got candid about his brewing beef with Carson Hocevar via a NASCAR Instagram spot, linking it straight to the charged clash during August 2025’s Iowa Corn 350. Hocevar, handling the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevy, slid loose and nicked Smith’s left rear, flipping the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford into a wild spin before it smacked the safer barrier hard near Lap 230. Smith was holding steady up front but dropped to 36th by the end, while Hocevar hung on for eighth. Once the race wrapped, Smith’s crew chief, Ryan Bergenty, stepped up to Hocevar on pit road, and Smith went for a return nudge on Hocevar’s machine but swung wide, really driving home the heat in their rivalry.

When asked if he’d talked to Carson Hocevar, Smith was blunt: “No, no, I didn’t talk to him. And it’s just, you’re not gonna get anything from it. Like, I don’t really know how else you can explain that.” He elaborated on the futility, noting that Hocevar’s indifference makes dialogue pointless; Hocevar didn’t even reach out after the wreck. This ties into Hocevar’s pattern of reckless moves that have irked the garage, like wrecking Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in consecutive weeks, including at Nashville, or triggering multi-car piles at Chicago that drew fire from Austin Dillon, who called out the chaos, wiping out half the field. Denny Hamlin has slammed Hocevar’s attitude as careless, and drivers like Josh Berry and Ryan Preece have voiced similar gripes over his aggressive habits.

The real kicker? Smith confessed to that impulse for a face-to-face swing but held off because of the wallet burn. “I mean, yeah, you wanna go up to him and punch him in the face, but that’s 75 grand, and that’s not very cool,” he put it, tipping his hat to the $75,000 hit NASCAR dropped on Stenhouse for popping Busch at North Wilkesboro in 2024, not to mention bench time for two crew guys per the Member Code of Conduct.

Hits like those underline NASCAR’s tougher stance on scraps, like the $50,000 fine Hocevar took earlier in 2025 over some bad livestream words for Mexico that were funneled to charity causes. For Smith, who’s pushed through a rough run of non-fault crashes at spots like Sonoma, Dover, and Indianapolis, chewing up roughly 51 points for his crew, the gamble didn’t add up, particularly facing off with a driver who “literally doesn’t give a sh-t about anything.”

Fights on the circuit go way back, yet they pack more punch now with penalties that lose team cash or strip points to sink campaigns. Like Smith said, squaring up to Hocevar brings zero wins given his growing list of rivals, so drivers are better off steering that spark toward the next green flag. Though the Iowa headache sticks around, Smith’s Bristol step-up hands him a solid do-over. That podium wasn’t some fluke; it’s the spark for pushing hard at venues his squad knows inside out.

Zane Smith’s Bristol boost targets Loudon

Zane Smith, riding high from that Bristol race, calls it a real shift for his No. 38 bunch at Front Row Motorsports. “I think it was a great result for myself and our whole team, and I think it will allow us to really just build some good momentum to not only end this year and hopefully score that first win we’ve been looking for, but something to just build off of and some excitement for the offseason,” he let on. He’s parked at 27th in the points chase after a nasty streak of three wrecks in a row, but the Bristol showing clicks with his eighth-place average spot on track and a fresh personal high of 111.4 in driver rating, right behind Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney.

Eyeing what’s next, Smith gets fired up for venues like New Hampshire Motor Speedway, leaning on his crew’s modified roots that run through spotter Ryan Blanchard and chief Ryan Bergenty. “I think there are some great tracks coming up for us. Some that come to mind, Loudon. I feel pretty much my whole entire team has in some way, some form, a modified background, so I’m excited for this weekend,” he added, pointing to Kansas, Vegas, Martinsville, Talladega, and Phoenix, where he snagged a top-10 already this year.

His Loudon go-round last year got cut out shortly, the same track where he has an average finish of 34.0, but teamed with Front Row this time, he’s upbeat even on the place’s sneaky tough side. “My list is gonna be small, like I said, because this will only be my second time ever there, but it’s a really bumpy place. I feel like it’s underrated with how bumpy it really is, so your ability to get through the bumps and keep a well-handling car is super important,” Smith laid out.

The No. 38 crew and he are leaning on tight runs to hunt that first Cup checkered in the closing seven races.