Ryan Blaney's comments on Carson Hocevar before NASCAR brawl

22:17 ET, Sun, Sep 20, 2026 Updated: 22:19 ET, Sun, Sep 20, 2026

Ryan Blaney made it clear what he thought of Carson Hocevar before their brawl (Image: Getty)

Ryan Blaney made it clear what he thought of Carson Hocevar before the two clashed on pit road Saturday.

At Bristol, Hocevar made contact with Blaney, ending the latter's night early, with the Team Penske star making it a point to confront the 23-year-old for his actions. After shoving his Spire Motorsports rival, Blaney was punched twice by Hocevar, causing the fracas to expand as reporters came to document the incident.

The incident came to an end after the two were separated, though not before Blaney and Hocevar came to blows, landing a couple of blows on both men. Before the fight, Blaney shared his thoughts on the young star and his aggressive style of driving.

“I just felt like he didn’t lift,” Blaney said, according to NASCAR.com. The star then took a moment to defend his driving, believing it was Hocevar who was in the wrong for how he drove in the moments leading up to the contact between the two stars.

“I left him plenty of room for a lap before that," Blaney continued. "I didn’t chop him. I didn’t run him into the fence or nothing like I easily could have. I protected the bottom, and he just decided he wanted to be there and didn’t lift and wrecked me.”

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Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar exchanged blows at Bristol (Image: Getty)

Along with Blaney, a number of other stars also took a moment to share their grievances with Hocevar, though they did so in their own ways. Video footage appeared to show Ryan Preece shouting at Hocevar after the fight while Josh Berry sarcastically waved at the embattled star.

Ty Gibbs almost clashed with Hocevar during the cool-down as well. Once the dust-up was getting underway after the race, Gibbs was spotted throwing a water bottle in the middle of the fight.

“That was the first time I ever hit anybody,” Hocevar said after the fact. “So, it was a cool story. At least it was at Bristol of all places. He got a pretty good in though too, right? I thought so. I don't know if he tripped on somebody or got a decent one in. I don't know what a good one feels like. I've never thrown one.

“I just happened to look up and they were all kind of cheering. I kind of waved at them and they all stood up and got pumped-up. So again, a very cool moment for me. Hopefully they can sell some tickets next year and improve ticket sales.”

He added, "I mean, I wasn't trying to wreck him, it just looked like to me, I kind of run and kind of went left, and he spun, and I spun him, so, I mean there wasn't a whole lot talking. ... I don't know what I did wrong there. I got a run to cross him over, looked like he spun himself, and then he wants to instigate a fight. I was gonna finish that, and it seemed like the crowd was pretty pumped up so I was going to play the audience for a second."