A fight broke out over an incident in the NASCAR Cup Series last night, with drivers Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar trading punches at Bristol.
The third race of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase was held at the short oval circuit, Bristol Motor Speedway. During this stage of the season, 16 drivers battle it out for the Cup Series championship, while the rest have already been eliminated from the title fight.
Both Blaney and Hocevar are among the Chase contenders. The two drivers were battling for second place during the final stage when the latter put the Team Penske driver into the wall.
Blaney went to confront Hocevar, who decided to fight back and also landed a punch.
Afterwards, Hocevar said to reporters: “I understand why he’s upset. That’s probably his championship. So I understand 100 percent. And I’d probably be mad at me, too. Whether it was his mistake, my mistake, my fault or not, I’d be pretty pissed if I was him.
“That was the first time I ever hit anybody. I don’t know if he tripped on somebody or I got a decent one in. I’ve never thrown one.”
Hocevar has developed a reputation among his rivals for having a habit of wrecking other drivers. Blaney said before confronting Hocevar: “I haven’t had a problem with him for probably a year and a half, but it’s getting old.”
In the end, victory went to Blaney’s Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano. Hocevar crossed the finish line in thrird place. Blaney is currently sixth, Hocevar is eighth in the standings.
The Chase Standings after BristolPositionDriversPointsP1#5 Kyle Larson2206P2#11 Denny Hamlin2205P3#22 Joey Logano2190P4#20 Christopher Bell2189P5#54 Ty Gibbs2164P6#12 Ryan Blaney2154P7#45 Tyler Reddick2145P8#77 Carson Hocevar2121P9#19 Chase Briscoe2119P10#23 Bubba Wallace2114P11#2 Austin Cindric2090P12#9 Chase Elliott2089P13#24 William Byron2085P14#60 Ryan Preece2082P15#17 Chris Buescher2082P16#7 Daniel Suarez2072