BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney believes responsibility for the on-track incident that ignited his post-race confrontation with Carson Hocevar belongs to both drivers, but he admitted lingering frustration from recent weeks helped fuel his emotional reaction following Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Speaking days after the altercation on Denny Hamlin’s podcast Actions Detrimental, the former NASCAR Cup Series champion described the contact that spun him from contention as a racing incident between two drivers fighting for the same piece of real estate.
“Looking back on it, I’d say it’s a 50/50,” Blaney said. “I was wanting to protect the bottom, he was wanting to get to the bottom and was there late by a little bit, and neither of us wanted to give. I don’t think he’s 100% to blame. I’m not 100% to blame.”
Blaney said he was attempting to protect second position and keep his car in its strongest groove on the bottom lane when the incident occurred. While many questioned why he didn’t move to the outside lane, Blaney said he felt he had every right to defend the preferred line.
The Team Penske driver said his anger wasn’t solely connected to the Bristol incident.
Instead, Blaney described a mounting sense of frustration after a stretch of bad luck that included mechanical failures and multiple DNFs despite having race-winning speed. He said the disappointment from losing a strong finish at Gateway because of brake problems, combined with three DNFs over a five-race span, created emotions that continued to build after the checkered flag.
“Saturday night was weird,” Blaney said. “I kind of more calm than I normally am, and it built over time.”
Unlike many post-race confrontations that involve crews gathering around drivers, Blaney said he intentionally approached Hocevar alone.
Without informing crew members of his plans, Blaney handed his phone to crew chief Jonathan Hassler and walked away. His goal, he said, was to avoid creating the appearance of a larger confrontation.
“In my mind, I’m not going to go walk over there with six of my guys,” Blaney said. “I’m going to need to do this myself.”
Blaney insisted he never intended for the situation to escalate into a fight.
His plan, he said, was to grab Hocevar and voice his displeasure. Instead, the exchange quickly turned physical when Hocevar defended himself after Blaney aggressively approached him.
“The first thing I know, he landed a pretty good right hand,” Blaney said.
The punches became one of the most talked-about moments of the weekend, with Blaney jokingly acknowledging he did not come out on the winning end of the confrontation.
“I’ll be honest with you, yeah, I went over there…and got tagged pretty good, but I just wanted to show my displeasure.”
Despite defending the emotions that led to the incident, Blaney expressed regret for how he handled the situation and acknowledged the example NASCAR drivers set for younger fans.
“I try to set a good example for kids who are watching,” Blaney said. “I definitely regret the way I acted. That’s really unlike me.”
Blaney also indicated part of his frustration stemmed from what he viewed as a lack of accountability following the incident. He said drivers who unintentionally make mistakes should be willing to acknowledge them and apologize when appropriate.
As for any reconciliation, Blaney said he has not spoken with Hocevar since the confrontation and does not expect that conversation to happen anytime soon.
NASCAR, meanwhile, has elected not to penalize either driver.
Following Saturday night’s incident NASCAR executive Steve O’Donnell appeared on Happy Hour with Kevin Harvick and said the sanctioning body viewed the situation as drivers handling a dispute themselves and emphasized the passion both competitors displayed.
“If drivers are going to handle their own business, the way we looked at that, how it played out, we’re not going to encourage fighting, but what we are going to encourage is passion, right?” Said O’Donnell
“And those are two guy Blaney’s showing his passion, showing his fire. So no, there’s nothing coming from us in terms of [penalties]. We’ll obviously watch what happens the rest of the way, but nothing in terms of post-race penalties.” O’Donnell continued