A NASCAR driver who started a brawl over an on-track incident at Bristol Motor Speedway doesn’t give himself high marks for his punching performance.
During a night race at the Tennessee track, Ryan Blaney got into a dustup with fellow driver Carson Hocevar.
Earlier in the race, Hocevar went down the inside of Blaney and caught the driver’s left-rear quarter panel – spinning Blaney out and ending his race.
Blaney sought retaliation after the race ended, going up to Hocevar on pit row and grabbing the driver while yelling at him.
Hocevar responded by throwing two punches that connected – one on his head, the other on his cheek – before the two were separated. Blaney then managed to break free, ran down Hocevar and threw a punch before the two were separated for good.
‘I’ll be honest, I went over there and I got my ass kicked, for sure,’ Blaney said as a guest on fellow racer Denny Hamlin’s podcast ‘Actions Detrimental.’
NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney gave himself a negative review after he started a brawl
Blaney (R) got angry at fellow driver Carson Hocevar for wrecking him and went over after the race to confront his opponent. After being grabbed, Hocevar landed two punches on Blaney.
Hocevar admitted that he would also be mad if he were in Blaney’s shoes
‘I ate a two piece, and got tagged pretty good. I just wanted to show my displeasure.’
Blaney admitted: ‘I didn’t have a huge plan. Really, the only plan of mine was, you know, “I’m going to have a stern conversation with Carson.” I wasn’t planning on throwing anything.
‘I just really wanted to grab him and pretty much yell at him, you know, and show my displeasure. And granted, I kind of grabbed him pretty aggressively — that, you’re probably going to defend yourself, you know? And he rightfully did.’
On the opposite side of the brawl, Hocevar admitted that if he was in Blaney’s shoes, he would 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,’ he said.
‘I saw him coming, and he’s moving pretty fast, and then he grabbed me, and I was like, “OK, I’m not going to wait. I’ve seen enough of these. I’m going to start swinging and see what happens.”‘
Blaney later admitted regret at his actions, saying the provocation was ‘really unlike’ him and that he tries to ‘set a good example for kids’ to look up to.
Both racers are in a close battle in the NASCAR postseason. Blaney sits in sixth place in the chase and Hocevar sits eighth. The fourth race of the 10 chase races takes place Sunday at Kansas Motor Speedway.
