BRISTOL, Tenn. — Carson Hocevar is back in the spotlight after an incident and fight with Ryan Blaney in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Bristol Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The incident in question happened when Blaney and Hocevar raced for second on lap 459 of 500, according to NASCAR timing and scoring. Hocevar had a run on the outside lane exiting turn four and crossed over to the inside of Blaney entering turn one. As Hocevar took the run and went for the hole, Blaney blocked and caused them to make contact. That sent Blaney spinning and hitting the wall.
Advertisement
After leading a race-high three times for 202 laps, Blaney’s race was over. However, his night in the spotlight at Bristol wasn’t.
“Something’s going to happen… tonight,” Blaney told a scrum of reporters at the infield care center.
Sure enough, after Hocevar finished third and parked his car on pit road, Blaney walked up to the young Spire Motorsports driver and grabbed him by the collar to confront him. Before Blaney could say or do anything, Hocevar threw a right hook that connected with Blaney and connected another before both drivers were whisked away by NASCAR security.
That didn’t stop Blaney, who charged through the crowd and came at Hocevar one more time. He ultimately threw and landed a punch on Hocevar before getting whisked away again.
Advertisement
“There wasn’t a whole lot of talking. He just went after me,” Hocevar said, describing the 2-1 bout.
Often a driver who is hot on the mic, Blaney got hot in a physical confrontation for seemingly the first time in his Cup Series career. A rarity for not only Blaney but also NASCAR, it was the first time the series had seen in a fight since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. waited for Kyle Busch to confront and punch him after an incident in the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
NASCAR handed a $75,000 fine to Stenhouse, reflecting the sport’s effort to crack down on fights after incidents escalated to a degree as extreme as Austin Hill punching Myatt Snider and knocking him to the ground at Martinsville Speedway.
It’s unclear if NASCAR will fine either Hocevar or Blaney for the fight. NASCAR has fined drivers for fights before, even after the 1979 Daytona 500 that propelled the sport into national stardom. NASCAR fined Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and Donnie Allison each $6,000 for one of the most replayed and advertised highlight reel moments in the sport’s history. Today, that would be the equivalent of $27,684.30.
Read the full article here
