Ryan Blaney was frustrated with Carson Hocevar, and understandably so, as he was sent spinning from the runner-up spot with 42 laps remaining in Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The end result? Blaney backed hard into the outside wall and suffered his second consecutive DNF, which has hampered his chances at a NASCAR Cup Series title.
HOCEVAR TURNS BLANEY!!! pic.twitter.com/0hws9929fl
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 20, 2026
After being checked and released from the infield care center, Blaney vowed that he would have a discussion with Hocevar after the race was over. What ended up happening was a lot more than just a conversation.
As Blaney approached Hocevar to give him a piece of his mind, Blaney grabbed onto Hocevar’s firesuit. Hocevar, at that point, chose to start swinging. Hocevar, the driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet, would land two punches on Blaney’s face as NASCAR security tackled Blaney to the ground in an effort to break up the scuffle.
As Blaney wiggled free, he got to his feet, charged back at Hocevar, and gave Hocevar one shot to the side of his face as well before the two were separated for good.
Here is a video of what transpired on pit road after Saturday night’s race:
TEMPERS FLARE AT BRISTOL! pic.twitter.com/jI5LYH9j99
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 20, 2026
While Blaney said he felt that Hocevar could have lifted, but chose not to at his expense with 42 laps to go, Hocevar explained after the post-race scuffle that he had no intention of crashing Blaney out of 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.
Whether he intended to crash Blaney or not likely matters little to Blaney, who now faces a major uphill battle if he wants to collect his second NASCAR Cup Series championship. And regardless of how it happened, Hocevar gained yet another enemy on his list, as he also continues his championship quest.
