Talk about a rough night. Ryan Blaney looked like he was well on his way to righting the ship on the path to a second NASCAR Cup Series championship as he took the second position away from Carson Hocevar with 42 laps remaining in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
However, as the pair of drivers headed into Turn 1, Blaney attempted to protect the bottom lane, and Hocevar chose not to lift off the accelerator, which sent Blaney crashing hard into the outside wall.
As a result, a would-be good finish was dashed, and Blaney was credited with his second consecutive DNF in the third race of the Chase.
Advertisement
After being checked and released from the infield care center, Blaney, who is among a long list of NASCAR Cup Series drivers, who have grown tired of being pushed around by Hocevar on track, told the media, “Something’s going to happen [tonight].”
Determined to show his displeasure with Hocevar, Blaney stuck around to the end of the race and sought out Hocevar on pit road after the driver climbed out of his No. 77 Chevrolet. After a few words were exchanged, the two drivers locked up in a grapple; Hocevar, who has a drastic reach advantage, took two swings that landed on Blaney’s face.
NASCAR security then intervened, and tackled Blaney to the ground in an attempt to break up the post-race fight, but Blaney was able to get back to his feet, and was able to make one last charge at Hocevar. Blaney did fire off one punch to Hocevar’s face, which looks like it landed as well.
Advertisement
After the scuffle on pit road was finally diffused, Hocevar explained that he didn’t intend to crash Blaney late in the race.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t trying to wreck him. It just looked like to me, that I got a run, and kind of went left, and he spun. I spun him,” Hocevar said of the incident.
While Hocevar didn’t intend to wreck Blaney, that was likely very little consolation for Blaney. Hocevar said that when Blaney locked him up in a grapple, he chose to take action.
“He didn’t even talk. He said like one thing, and then came after me, and I wasn’t going to take it,” Hocevar said of why he swung at Blaney.
Advertisement
Hocevar continued, “I got ran into a lot for the win. That was for second, and he wants to fight. I don’t think anyone is left behind me, so they got an oldschool Bristol show, here.”
Heading into the night, Hocevar already had a standing feud with Brad Keselowski, who he spun out at Darlington. After that incident, Keselowski vowed that Hocevar’s “day is coming, and it’s coming hard. Watch out, Carson.”
Now, Hocevar has one of his fellow competitors for the NASCAR Cup Series championship, who likely feels like he owes the Spire Motorsports driver one.
However, at the end of the night, Hocevar wound up with a third-place finish, a run, which allowed him to move into eighth in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Can Hocevar keep climbing with his ruthless aggression on track? Or will one of his competitors finally stop him in his tracks?
Advertisement
Find out next week, I guess.
Today’s best reads
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Hocevar Wrecks Blaney Then Punches Him After Bristol Night Race.
Read the full article here