NASCAR won't penalize or fine drivers Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar for getting into a fight on pit road after Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
With 43 laps to go, Hocevar crossed behind Blaney and got inside the left rear quarter panel of his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Heading into the turn, neither driver lifted, Hocevar made contact and spun Blaney out, sending him into the wall and ending his night.
More fireworks ensued on pit road after the race. Blaney walked up to Hocevar outside of his No. 77 Chevrolet, grabbed him and started yelling. Hocevar was quick to react, punching Blaney twice before the two were separated. The kerfuffle wasn’t over though as Blaney broke free, charged back through the crowd and landed a punch on Hocevar before they
were broken apart for good.
Speaking with Hall of Fame driver Kevin Harvick on his podcast "Happy Hour" on Monday, Sept. 21, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said neither driver would face disciplinary action for the altercation.
“We’ve been on record, drivers need to handle their business outside of the car. We don’t want crew members jumping on. Drivers are going to handle their own business,” O’Donnell told Harvick. “The way we looked at that, how it played out, you know — we’re not going to encourage fighting, but what we are going to encourage is passion, right? And those are two guys, you know, Blaney is showing his passion, showing his fire. So no, there’s nothing coming from us. We’ll obviously watch what happens the rest of the way, but nothing in terms of postrace penalties.”
NASCAR added in a statement on Monday that it was conducting a “further review” of the fight to “determine penalties to any crew members” involved. Typically, the status quo of fighting in NASCAR recently has been that if the fighting stays between the two drivers and doesn’t involve crew members, no penalties or fines are issued. There was a notable exception in May 2024 when NASCAR fined Ricky Stenhouse Jr. $75,000 for fighting Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro.
The governing body will also typically issue penalties and fines if they determine a driver has intentionally used their car as a weapon or executed what is called a right-rear-hook on another driver, a maneuver that can send a car back toward the field and into the outside wall at high speeds.
Reflecting on the fight on Monday while talking to fellow driver Denny Hamlin, Blaney said, “I'll be honest, I went over there and I got my ass kicked, for sure. I ate a two piece, and got tagged pretty good. I just wanted to show my displeasure."
The fight in many ways represented what folks love about NASCAR: there was beating and banging on a short-track, then tempers flaring off it. A champion of the sport going after a young and aggressive competitor. A wheelman of a Ford getting in the face of a driver of a Chevrolet. And it all happened at Bristol, which has a long history of producing feuds like this.
NASCAR has been leaning into this brash and unfiltered side of the sport with its “Hell Yeah” ad on Super Bowl Sunday — which features Hocevar using a flamethrower while standing atop a pickup truck that looks like Dale Earnhardt’s iconic No. 3 Chevrolet — and its recent “Swear Jar” contest in the postseason Chase.
“I think if we’re true to who we are, people see that,” O’Donnell told Harvick. “That’s when we’re clicking. When you’ve got a bunch of guys that people either love or don’t like, we’re starting to get that in terms of some momentum.”
Heading into the fourth of 10 races in the Chase this Sunday at Kansas Motor Speedway, Blaney is sixth in the standings and 52 points behind leader Kyle Larson, while Hocevar is eighth and 85 points back.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR will not penalize Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar for Bristol fight
