![\"NASCAR](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2296160033.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCarson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney fight at Bristol. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCarson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney fight at Bristol. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n
The two drivers fought on pit road in the aftermath of a race in which the pair had tangled while fighting for second place with 43 of the 500 laps remaining, sending Blaney into the outside wall.<\/p>\n
Blaney approached Hocevar following the chequered flag, receiving two distinct punches to the head for his troubles.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell laid out NASCAR\u2019s stance on the matter via Kevin Harvick\u2019s Happy Hour Podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf drivers are going to handle their own business, the way we looked at that, how it played out, we\u2019re not going to encourage fighting, but what we are going to encourage is passion, right?\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd those are two guys \u2014 Blaney\u2019s showing his passion, showing his fire. So no, there\u2019s nothing coming from us in terms of [penalties].<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll obviously watch what happens the rest of the way, but nothing in terms of post-race penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blaney meanwhile took to Denny Hamlin\u2019s Actions Detrimental Podcast to reflect on the incident, acknowledging the crash itself was a \u201c50-50\u201d scenario.<\/p>\n
The Team Penske driver said he had not told his crew he was intending to approach Hocevar and had no plan for the confrontation beyond expressing his displeasure.<\/p>\n
However, after grabbing the 23-year-old by the collar, Blaney was almost immediately greeted by the first of two right-hook punches to the cheekbone.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got me pretty good and the hat just kind of flung off my head,\u201d Blaney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that happened, I was like, \u2018OK, well, I should probably return fire at this point\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the second one coming and I\u2019m kind of immobilised, and in my mind, I\u2019m like, \u2018All right, I\u2019m just going to eat this thing and continue to yell at him and stare at him while I just eat this other right.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ll give it to him. He tagged me in the same exact spot that he got me the first time. Right here in my cheekbone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018All right.\u2019 But I was like\u2026 I just got to eat it and just continue to talk my trash that I\u2019m talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2296159079.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Hocevar wasted no time in going the biff. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n
Blaney went to the ground amid a melee of crew and officials trying to seperate the drivers, before returning to his feet and again charging at Hocevar.<\/p>\n
That brought him close enough to knock Hocevar\u2019s hat off, before officials finally deescalated the scene.<\/p>\n
The 2023 Cup Series champion said he regrets his actions, noting they were out of character.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to set a good example for kids who are watching, who are fans, their parents who are allowing these kids to watch races and root for their driver,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2296158954.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The drivers were eventually separated. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to act a certain way to what a kid would want to look up to. And I look back on those things, and I definitely regret the way I acted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, that\u2019s really unlike me. It\u2019s just frustrating. \u2026 [but] I wish I wouldn\u2019t have done that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I would have gone about it a different way, just from people watching, and I don\u2019t ever want to set a bad example.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ll be honest with you, I went over there and I got my ass kicked for sure. I ate a two-piece and got tagged pretty good. But I just wanted to show my displeasure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blaney dropped two places to sixth in the standings following his 33rd place result, while Hocevar finished third and gained one place in points to sit eighth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney fight at Bristol. Image: Supplied The two drivers fought on pit road in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,99294,806,805,803,804,2339,9910,85],"class_list":["post-900915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-carson-hocevar","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-ryan-blaney","tag-slot2","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}