![\"NASCAR](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790259971_218_nascar-cup-series-goodyear-400-practice-darlington-south-carolina-may.jpg\")
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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 11: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards\/Maytag Ford, (R) and Carson Hocevar, driver of the #77 Premier Security\/NLEOMF.org Chevrolet, walk the grid. during practice for the the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on May 11, 2024 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
NASCAR officials closely followed Ryan Blaney\u2019s comments after his physical fight with Carson Hocevar<\/a> at Bristol Motor Speedway<\/a>. NASCAR official Mike Forde<\/a> said staff listened to parts of Blaney\u2019s appearance on Denny Hamlin\u2019s \u201cActions Detrimental\u201d podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n The comments came after the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol, where Blaney and Hocevar clashed on the track and later fought at Hocevar\u2019s pit stall. Blaney spoke openly about the incident on Hamlin\u2019s podcast the following Monday.<\/p>\n He called the on-track contact \u201c50-50\u201d and admitted he went to Hocevar\u2019s pit stall expecting a confrontation. Forde said NASCAR personnel discussed Blaney\u2019s comments during internal debrief meetings.<\/p>\n NASCAR Official Reveals Reaction to Ryan Blaney\u2019s Comments<\/p>\n Speaking on the latest episode of \u201cHauler Talk,\u201d Forde credited Hamlin for helping calm the situation involving Blaney and Hocevar.<\/p>\n \u201cCredit to Denny Hamlin for being the peace broker.\u201d<\/p>\n Forde also said NASCAR personnel had listened to Blaney\u2019s podcast appearance or watched clips from it.<\/p>\n \u201cOur folks did listen to it and, or at least see some of the clips, and there were comments in the debrief meetings that they thought that Ryan handled it really well and spoke very eloquently and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n Forde added: \u201cSo, I think he gets it. We feel\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n The comments give more detail about how NASCAR reviewed Blaney\u2019s response after the Bristol fight. NASCAR officials considered not only what happened on the track but also how Blaney discussed the incident afterward.<\/p>\n Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar\u2019s Bristol Fight Explained<\/p>\n The NASCAR fight started with 43 laps remaining in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol. Blaney and Hocevar were racing for second place when contact sent Blaney\u2019s No. 12 Ford into the wall.<\/p>\n The crash ended Blaney\u2019s race after he had led a race-high 202 laps. Blaney finished 33rd, while Hocevar recovered to finish third.<\/p>\n After visiting the infield care center, Blaney walked to Hocevar\u2019s pit stall. He grabbed the Spire Motorsports driver by his firesuit, and Hocevar responded by punching Blaney twice in the face.<\/p>\n Officials and crew members then stepped in to separate the two drivers.<\/p>\n Blaney later appeared with a cut and bruised left eye. The Bristol fight quickly became one of the main talking points from the NASCAR weekend.<\/p>\n NASCAR Decision After the Bristol Fight<\/p>\n Ryan Blaney later discussed the Bristol fight at length on Hamlin\u2019s \u201cActions Detrimental\u201d podcast. He said the contact between the two drivers was \u201c50-50\u201d and acknowledged that he went to Hocevar\u2019s pit stall intending to confront him.<\/p>\n Blaney also admitted Hocevar got the better of him during the fight.<\/p>\n \u201cI went over there and got my ass kicked, for sure,\u201d Blaney said.<\/p>\n The Team Penske driver also expressed regret and said he tries to set an example for younger fans.<\/p>\n NASCAR CEO Steve O\u2019Donnell had already indicated that NASCAR did not plan to penalize either driver for the physical confrontation. Speaking on Kevin Harvick\u2019s \u201cHappy Hour\u201d podcast, O\u2019Donnell said NASCAR wanted to preserve the emotion and competitiveness of racing while discouraging drivers from using their cars as weapons.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to encourage fighting, but what we are going to encourage is passion.\u201d<\/p>\n Forde\u2019s comments show that Ryan Blaney\u2019s public response became part of NASCAR\u2019s internal discussions after the Bristol fight. They do not establish that the podcast appearance directly determined NASCAR\u2019s disciplinary decision.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 11: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards\/Maytag Ford, (R) and Carson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":907944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-907943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}