Zane Smith Uninjured But "Pissed Off" After Wild Flip at Kansas

Zane Smith was uninjured after a wild flip in overtime during Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. | USA Network race broadcast

It was a wild ride for Zane Smith in the first of two overtime finish attempts in Sunday afternoon's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, a race ultimately won by Chase Elliott. And while the driver walked away from the scary moment, angry with John Hunter Nemechek, at least he was fortunate enough to do so unscathed.

On Lap 267 of Sunday's race, John Hunter Nemechek slid up the track in Turn 3, where he made contact with Smith's No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which sent Smith into the outside SAFER barrier.

A scary tumble on the restart 😳

Zane Smith exited the car after taking a scary tumble across the track on the restart. #NASCARPlayoffs. pic.twitter.com/w3nHSQQeZn

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 28, 2025

Wildly, Smith's car climbed the wall and landed with the driver's side door down. With no control over the situation, Smith would brace for whatever would happen as his car skidded roughly a quarter-mile on its side. Eventually, Smith's car would slide off the wall and would then go through a series of flips as the car would come to a rest on the inside of the track.

After climbing from his car, giving a wave to the fans, and being evaluated and released from the infield care center, Smith had some choice words for Nemechek, who he felt flat-out wrecked him in the incident.

“It was a wild ride, no doubt. Before I knew it, I had a decent restart going, and I just get wrecked by [Nemechek]," Smith seethed. "He just drives through me, and then I was sliding on the wall. I was just mad at that point from how our day was going, and this just pissed me off even more because that’s what really hurt was just flipping down the track. It was violent, no doubt, but we had such a fast Speedy Cash Ford today. It’s just a bummer."

The 26-year-old racer did have a fast race car on Sunday at the 1.5-mile speedway as he climbed from the 28th starting spot, and was able to compete inside the top-10 and top-15 for a good portion of the event. At the time of the crash, he was running inside of the top-15, and Smith truly believed he was about to notch his fifth top-10 finish of what has been a decent season.

"Right before that caution came out, we were gonna have a top 10 day, racing up inside the top 10 a majority of the day, and it’s a shame that it has to come to an end out there," Smith said. "I want to give a shout-out back to everyone at FRM for bringing another really good car, especially at a mile-and-a-half. Hopefully, five more. Hopefully, we bring some more good ones.”

The California native, who won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in 2022, has found success a little harder to find since moving to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2024, but the driver has had some really solid runs this season, and he's looking to gain momentum heading into the 2026 campaign.

Sunday's result didn't help him do that, and he was pissed off about it.