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Off-track drama and rivalries took centre stage during the Quaker State 400 weekend at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, as Carson Hocevar rolled out a T-shirt trade-in campaign. The move came in response to comments made by Zane Smith about him during media interactions and on the NASCAR-affiliated podcast ‘Racin’ with the Boys.’

Reacting to Smith’s remarks and a subsequent meeting in the NASCAR hauler, Hocevar decided to have some fun with the situation by leaning into the narrative that he was being labelled as disingenuous and disliked by his peers.

Before Sunday’s race, Hocevar took to social media to announce, “Giving away free T-shirts to the first 77 people who bring in another active driver’s T-shirt to swap for any of ours. Starts at noon at the merch trailer.”

Fans responded to the challenge—with at least one enthusiast captured on EchoPark Speedway’s official channels exchanging his own shirt for a brand-new Spire Motorsports No. 77 T-shirt.

Since Smith’s podcast appearance went viral, the Front Row Motorsports driver has been on the receiving end of attention from Hocevar’s online following—something Smith himself joked about during his conversation with Taylor Lewan.

“It’s kind of funny,” Smith told on-site media, including Fox Sports. “Some of the comments and memes have definitely been entertaining. But yeah, in a way, they’re proving me right.”

During the podcast, Smith claimed that Hocevar doesn’t just race aggressively but often puts himself and others in risky positions on track.

“There’s a difference between drivers who race you hard,” Smith explained. “He’ll just put us both in a tough spot that ends up costing us lap time. Neither of us gains anything from it. That’s the frustrating part. I remember one incident—whether it was a mistake or not—he wrecked us.”

Adding to the tension, Smith said that after the Iowa incident he referred to, Hocevar spent the remainder of the race waving apologetically, only to later post contradictory content online.

“Then he spends the rest of the race waving at me, acting like, ‘Oh man, I’m so sorry,’” Smith said. “And then he goes on social media and posts something like ‘Admit One: I don’t care.’”

“If you’re going to hide behind social media, that’s cowardly in my opinion,” Smith continued. “If you feel that way, say it to my face. Don’t act nice in person and then talk tough behind your phone.”

This escalating feud, combined with their contact during the Chicagoland race—which NASCAR ruled as unintentional in terms of penalties—led to both drivers being summoned for a competition meeting in the hauler.

Following a crash on lap 32 at Chicagoland Speedway, both Smith and Hocevar were called in for discussions ahead of the Atlanta event, along with Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill, who had also been involved in multiple on-track altercations.

Hocevar expressed confusion over NASCAR’s timing, saying he didn’t expect such a meeting during this particular weekend. He emphasised that intentional wrecking wasn’t on his agenda going into Atlanta.

“I told the NASCAR officials in the hauler,” Hocevar shared with reporters, including Fox Sports. “I said, ‘If you expected anything to continue, I wouldn’t have chosen this week. Maybe Martinsville or somewhere like that would make sense. But Atlanta? It’s tough to intentionally wreck someone here.’”

As the two return to competition amid heightened tension, Hocevar is set to start 14th while Smith will begin 34th in tonight’s race at EchoPark Speedway, which kicks off at 7 PM EST.