CONCORD, N.C. — John Hunter Nemechek showed up to the NASCAR Production Facility to take part in a "NASCAR 25" event, but he first addressed a lingering topic from last weekend's race at Kansas Speedway. He explained the mistake he made that led to Zane Smith riding the wall and flipping at Kansas Speedway.
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"Just a mistake on my part," Nemechek told select media members on Wednesday. "It's unacceptable, and definitely have to learn from it. Not let that happen again."
So what exactly happened in this wild sequence of events at the 1.5-mile Kansas track?
Zane Smith exited the vehicle under his own power after this incident late at @kansasspeedway. pic.twitter.com/vbF4OXvROl
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 28, 2025
"Coming off of Turn 2, I was three wide top, had a run down the back straightaway," Nemechek said. "I was locked onto Zane down the back straightaway, pushing him. Ty (Gibbs) gave me a shot from behind, helping push the line. And when I got that shot, kind of turned me a little bit sideways.
"And when I kind of moved the steering wheel to correct, I ended up between Zane and Todd (Gilliland) getting into Turn 3. And (I) thought that they were going to run completely different lines with the 17 (Chris Buescher) in front of Zane. The entry speed that he had, I thought he was going to run the very top.
"So I was going to go try and run three wide middle, and ultimately, just didn't have enough room between Zane's left rear quarter panel and my right front getting in the corner there. And, I got tight and then kind of got sucked into his left rear quarter. And then we were along for the ride after that."
Nemechek didn't see the wall ride and flip as it happened in real time. He spun into Josh Berry and then hit the wall, which ended his day and sent him to the infield care center. He was too busy spinning to see Smith's No. 38 Ford on its side.
Nemechek watched the replay after undergoing evaluation and being released from the infield care center.
"It was kind of crazy that it happened," Nemechek said. "I haven't seen that in a long time. Right? I think they said that the last one to do it was the 38 of Jason Leffler at Bristol maybe. ... But it's not something that you see every day.
"And it's kind of crazy how it happened. Right? We haven't seen that happen really with the Next Gen car or anything like that climbing the fence."
The incident happened, and both drivers walked away unscathed. So what happens now? How do they race each other moving forward after this incident disrupted a potential top-10 day for Smith?
The Front Row Motorsports driver said that it is behind him; his focus remains on the Charlotte Roval and an opportunity to contend for a strong finish. Nemechek has stated that he can only work on avoiding similar mistakes in the future.
What Nemechek knows is that he will not get any breaks on the race track from his fellow Cup Series driver, at least for the next five weeks.
"I would say from my standpoint I definitely owe him a couple breaks, right? Just being aware of my surroundings and things of that sort. But, like I said, it's on me. Just a mistake that I made and I can't be making mistakes like that."
