Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to Ty Dillon, Zane Smith altercation

Ty Dillon had some choice words for Zane Smith following this past Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Speaking with Dirty Mo Media, Dillon said he approached Smith and told him, “If he wrecks me again, I’m just going to beat his ass.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw the footage. His takeaway was that this was a case of hard racing been the two, he said on Tuesday’s “Dale Jr. Download.”

“I saw some in-car from a post on Twitter that just showed a little hard racing. Nothing crazy,” Earnhardt said. “But maybe something’s been going on for weeks. That’s the only thing I can assume.”

Smith did not take Dillon’s threat seriously. He responded on X and said, “Ain’t beating nobody’s ass.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. praises Ty Dillon’s mindset on racetrack

Dillon is not one to back down on the racetrack. When you’re a driver who has been in and out of the Cup Series, you can understand why he fights for every inch. Earnhardt actually respects that about Dillon.

“The thing with Ty is he will pester the sh*t out of you,” Earnhardt said. “The way he drives — I mean this in the nicest way — the way he races you is so annoying, it’s almost a bit like Ross [Chastain]. He just won’t roll over and he’s gonna drive down into the corner and use you up if he needs to. He’s not gonna be apologetic about it and he will hassle you. I mean that as a compliment. I think that works for him more often than not. He pesters and pesters and won’t stop trying to get fu*king by you.

“In your mind, you’re thinking, ‘It’s Ty Dillon.’ Maybe there’s a lot of guys out there that don’t truly appreciate his ability or his stature. ‘You don’t belong in front of me. I don’t belong behind you.’ There’s a lot of that ego going on out there and so, that’s what’s happening in this whole thing. ‘Man, F you. I don’t belong behind you.’ … Ty don’t give a sh*t about that. Ty Dillon — I thought he was out a couple of years ago. And so, he ain’t trying to be out. He’s trying to prove, ‘I fu*king belong here. Y’all ain’t getting rid of me this easy.'”

Though 30th in the points standings, Dillon has had some encouraging runs this season for Kaulig Racing. Dillon finished third in the open, just failing to advance to the All-Star Race later that night. Like Dillon, Smith is in a new ride this season. The Front Row Motorsports driver has quietly been consistent, sitting 22nd in points.