Carson Hocevar’s Darlington antics against Brad Keselowski have attracted a lot of attention. Some experts have warned the young driver, while others on social media have rallied behind his carefree personality. But amid this drama, Ryan Blaney touched upon the impact a driver has to deal with if they lose the respect of the garage. And unlike Keselowski’s threat to wreck Hocevar, there are severe implications.
“There are a lot of ways to kind of hinder somebody, without just turning them. There are a lot of different ways that you can make someone’s life hell without doing that type of stuff. It’s definitely hard to get it back if you lose it with somebody, it takes a long time to repair,” Blaney said on SiriusXM Radio.
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Blaney didn’t directly name Hocevar or reference Keselowski’s incident, but he explained some of the lesser-known norms of the Cup garage. The Spire Motorsports driver is gaining a lot of attention and hype with his aggressive racing, but he’s walking on thin ice, given the incidents he’s had with veteran drivers.
The Penske star has been on the receiving end of Hocevar’s on-track aggression earlier this year at Atlanta. But after pushing the No. 12 car into the fence, Hocevar reached out to Blaney and apologized. Now, that was a surprise, given how the Spire Motorsports driver has claimed that he doesn’t like to apologize for racing hard.
Carson Hocevar’s aggressive style has the garage talking. Keep up with how his approach shapes the rest of the season. Subscribe for more interesting stories.
“I don’t like the BS apologies. We’re just both racing hard. I think he knew what he was doing. He’s smart. He knows how hard he’s racing and trying to hold us off,” Hocevar said in the aftermath of the Darlington incident. However, it’s not just Keselowski that the young driver needs to watch out for; it seems like most of the garage is against him.
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“I mean, there are drivers, and there were drivers in our meeting today that said no matter what, they will not push Carson Hocevar to a victory. Absolutely not. They’ll push anyone else,” Denny Hamlin said after the Atlanta race in July, where he finished third.
This is what Ryan Blaney was referring to. Drivers don’t necessarily air out warnings or wreck in retaliation on the racetrack, but the pushback is silent. He could’ve won the race in Atlanta, but none of his rivals came to his aid on a track where he needed it the most.
It is worth noting that Carson Hocevar is in the Chase for the championship. But Keselowski has nothing to lose. In case the RFK Racing veteran decides to go all out against his rival, it could be detrimental to Hocevar’s championship hopes. Now, it remains to be seen whether Keselowski stays true to his word, despite NASCAR’s oversight.
NASCAR’s penalty on RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece is a perfect example of how the sanctioning body handles on-track incidents recently. Preece wrecked Ty Gibbs at Texas Motor Speedway, and his retaliation came after he publicly stated his intention to wreck the JGR driver. “Alright, when I get to that (No.) 54 I’m done with him.” And next thing you know, on Lap 101, he got into the No. 54 car.
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The sanctioning body handed Preece a 25-point penalty, along with a $25,000 fine. So Keselowski has to decide whether he is willing to endure this penalty in order to get even with Hocevar. Meanwhile, questions are also being raised about Spire Motorsports and how they are handling the situation with Hocevar.
Jeff Dickerson, the co-owner at Spire, addressed the issue and stated that they have those hard meetings on Monday and Tuesday. At the same time, he also made his stance clear regarding Keselowski’s threat to wreck Hocevar.
“They’ve got two cars in the Chase, too. What, he wants to dump Carson so then Carson goes and gets (RFK’s Chris Buescher)? … I can tell you, if Carson’s going to get wrecked, there will be a commensurate response.”
The next race at Gateway this weekend will be an interesting watch, to say the least. More than the actual results of the race or the Chase dynamics, all eyes will be on Keselowski and Hocevar.
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The post “Can Make Someone’s Life Hell” – Ryan Blaney Exposes NASCAR Drivers’ Hidden Agony of Racing Without Respect appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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