Denny Hamlin Reveals Zane Smith’s Wrecking Carson Hocevar at Chicago was “Very Deliberate”

One of the most controversial moments of last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday was the wreck featuring Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar. The Front Row Motorsports driver wrecked the Spire Motorsports driver on lap 32, in a move many saw as retaliation over the aggressive racing earlier in the event.

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin talked about the wreck in the latest episode of his podcast and highlighted how the No:38 Ford driver was in the wrong for the incidents. He asserted that the wreck was very deliberate and it was really evident from the in-car footage of the incidents.

I just find it very pointed, very deliberate. There was an in-car camera of somebody running on the high side and those two running low, and you could see Zane drive in there very deep to get to his back bumper.

Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.

Like many in the community, Denny Hamlin didn’t have a clear idea about what was reason for the supposed retaliation from Zane Smith. But he is confident that Carson Hocevar didn’t something that got the Ford driver riled up enough to ruin his own race for revenge.

Now, I don’t know again what prompted it, but you would think that there was something that clearly upset Zane before that moment, but you don’t want to wreck yourself for certain. That was certainly unfortunate.

Denny Hamlin added via Actions Detrimental.

Later the veteran shifted his focus towards underwhelming cars Spire delivered for their drivers on Sunday. Unlike their previous outings this season, the Chevy’s didn’t have good pace, most probably owing to issue with the setup and that might have caused Hocevar to be over aggressive from the start.

I don’t see [Hocevar] in the Top 20, so he must have got Hocevar’s day too, but all the Spire cars were bad. No past setups, huh. I digress.

Denny Hamlin asserted.

Denny Hamlin promotes self-policing in NASCAR

In the same podcast, the 23XI Racing co-owner also talked about the need of self-policing in NASCAR. He asserted that the drivers should be allowed to settle the scores on the track, during aggressive duels, considering anything they do outside the track get them penalized.

I am a very firm fan of self-policing. And I think that has to be a thing in the sport because if you can’t punch someone in the face without getting a fine. If you can’t handle it off the racetrack, which I’m not really in favor of that, because there are other people. You got to let people self-police on the racetrack.

Denny Hamlin said.

The comments from the three times Daytona 500 champion are on point. Self-policing was, is and always will be a key part the sport. NASCAR needs to get involved only in situation where drivers take it too far. It would be interesting to see how the rest of the stock car racing community is going to respond to the veteran’s assertion.

Also Read: Larry McReynolds Finally Discuss Evolution of His Relationship with Denny Hamlin After Lawsuit Drama