Hocevar Has No Regrets A Week After Punching Blaney At Bristol

Following last Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney, who crashed out of the event in an incident with Carson Hocevar with 42 laps remaining, confronted Hocevar after the Spire Motorsports driver climbed from his third-place-finishing No. 77 Chevrolet.

As Blaney approached with aggression, Blaney grabbed Hocevar's firesuit. Hocevar didn't wait and immediately sent two right hands to Blaney's left eye. The question of whether the punches actually landed was answered emphatically on Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, as Blaney was sporting a shiner under his left eye during a media availability.

When Hocevar took the stage to speak to the media, he was asked if he had any pain in his knuckles in the days following the fight at Bristol.

"Yeah, no, I was good. Shit, I don't hit that hard," Hocevar laughed.

Hocevar, who seemed confused by the question about his knuckles, hadn't had a chance to see Blaney's face, yet.

While fans and NASCAR, which issued no penalties for the brawl, remain mixed on whether drivers throwing fists after a race should actually be considered a good thing, you can't deny the impact that the moment had.

The post-race scuffle at Bristol led to a wave of social media traction for NASCAR, and as clips of the fight spread swiftly through Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, and even on ESPN's SportsCenter, the legend of the 23-year-old Hocevar continued to grow.

Not only is Hocevar one of the most aggressive drivers to come through the NASCAR Cup Series in many years, which has led to comparisons to the late Dale Earnhardt, but now he is seen as a driver who can hold his own when push comes to shove after he gets out of the protective cocoon of his race car.

Still, does Hocevar hold any regrets a week later?

"No, I don't think so," Hocevar stated.

Initially, after the post-race scuffle was broken up, Hocevar did have one worry on his mind: what would his dad think about it?

"I was a little worried. My dad is probably the least controversial person, you know, he has a local business, so he freaks out if he gets a bad Google review," Hocevar admitted.

Hocevar's only worry faded instantly after he touched base with his dad following Saturday night's race.

"So, yeah, I texted him, and I said, 'Man, I'm sorry about that.' You know, he was proud that I defended myself," Hocevar said, "and you know, I feel like that's what you'd want to see out of your son, per se, and whatnot."

After looking back at footage of the crash, Blaney has concluded that he overreacted in the aftermath of the crash, as he now sees the incident between himself and Hocevar at Bristol as a 50/50 racing incident, typical of what you expect to see at Bristol Motor Speedway, a rough and tumble 0.533-mile short track.

Hocevar agrees, and explains if the two drivers weren't fighting for the runner-up spot, the battle would have likely ended without fireworks.

"I feel like if we're racing anywhere lower than second, you know, I think maybe I look at it differently. But I think Blaney does, too. I think we both don't even put ourselves near that spot," Hocevar explained. "But I think, at Bristol that you kind of got to be second, or at least where the choose [zone] is, that you line up behind Ty [Gibbs], there. That's probably the most [likely] spot to win the race. So, you're going to be the most aggressive just trying to hold onto that spot. I think that's just a Bristol experience."

Now that the fight is behind them, Hocevar hopes he and Blaney can look back at what transpired last Saturday night, and laugh at it. And perhaps, even form a friendship.

"We've been cool and stuff. I bought a tank, and he likes that stuff. Maybe we can bond over it," Hocevar said.

Honestly, based on Blaney's thoughts in his media availability, maybe there is a real chance of a Blaney/Hocevar friendship. Or at the very least, what happened at Bristol won't lead to boiling over aggression from Blaney toward Hocevar on track going forward.

"Like I said on Denny's [Podcast], [Hocevar] and I haven't had a problem in a year, year-and-a-half, or nothing like that. I feel like we've raced each other pretty good," Blaney detailed. "So, yeah, I don't feel like there will be really anything different, but racing hard in tough moments, per usual. But that's with anybody in certain moments of the race. So, I don't really see a change."

Consider the Blaney/Hocevar feud squashed. But at least the quick on-track battle led to an iconic moment, which will live in NASCAR lore for years on social media, and will likely result in a lot more sold seats in the grandstands at Bristol Motor Speedway in the near future.

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