NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. has revealed that he reached out to Zane Smith this week after he wrecked Carson Hocevar during Sunday's Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
On lap 32 of the eero 400, Smith got into the back of Hocevar's No. 77 Chevrolet in turn two, spinning him around and resulting in both cars wrecking into the wall.
In isolation, it was totally on Smith, but the commentary team and fans were left curious as to what Hocevar could have done in the buildup to that moment to warrant such a move from the Front Row Motorsports driver.
Speaking on his Dale Jr. Download podcast this week, Earnhardt Jr. analyzed the incident and explained why he decided to send Smith a message after the fact.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. reveals Zane Smith text
“I reached out to Zane, and he didn’t reply back to me,” Earnhardt Jr. revealed. “I’m sure he’s p****d off. I’m like, ‘Dude, I like the aggression, but you can’t wreck yourself. You just can’t do that.’
"He puts too much effort into this to go out there and do that to himself. Not to mention the car and the crew and ownership and partners.
"I'm like, dude, you got all this great positive momentum. I just hated to see it because I like him as a driver and as a person. I like Zane a lot and I want him to be around and I want his deal to work. I want him to be a successful race car driver in this sport and I don’t know that he’s got enough roots into the ground to go out there and do those kinda things.
“If you’re established, got a bunch of wins, go out there and throw a race if you’re p****d off and wanna get after somebody, you can throw a race and get away with it.
“I just was disappointed there but I’m just wondering if anything happened leading up to that during the Chicagoland race, or was that just a year’s worth of ‘I’m mad, I’m getting ya.’”
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