John Hunter Nemechek hits teammate Sammy Smith in retaliation, challenges Smith to fight
NASCAR’s Xfinity Series race on Saturday saw a dose of late drama when John Hunter Nemechek and teammate Sammy Smith bumped into each other. Coming around a turn, Smith appeared to lose control of his vehicle or brake far too late — slamming into Nemechek and spinning him around.
John Hunter Nemechek and Sammy Smith trade hits on track
Nemechek maintained control after the spin but was clearly furious at the contact, enough so that he didn’t care if his teammate was the one he was about to retaliate with. After rejoining the race, Nemecheck pulled up alongside Smith who also went off the track. Entering another turn, Nemechek very clearly slammed into Smith’s rear bumper in retaliation and forced him off the track.
“We will fight after the race,” said Nemechek on the radio after the incident, via Dustin Albino. “He’s an idiot. That’s not how teammates race.”
After the race, the pair seemed to handle their grievances a different way without a major confrontation on pit row. However, the track did see another pair of drivers take their mid-race grievances to each other after the checkered flag.
After a wreck on the final lap of the race, Jeb Burton attempted to fight Chandler Smith on pit row. The pair of drivers got into it during the final lap of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway — with Burton claiming Smith tried wrecking him twice in the final lap before succeeding.
On the radio, Burton threatened that he was going to give Smith a “broke f—ing nose” for his actions on the track. Making good on his promise, Burton did approach Smith after the race on pit row and crew members had to separate them. Video appeared to show a crew member attempting to put Burton in a headlock while other people worked to split them up, with another crew member eventually pulling the one on Burton away by the neck as well.