Ryan Blaney regrets his actions, admits “I got my ass kicked” in Hocevar fight

After Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar fought on pit road following the Bristol Night Race, there was no comment from Blaney to the assembled media. But two days later, the Team Penske driver has emerged to give his side of the story, expressing regret over how he handled the situation.

He joined Denny Hamlin on his weekly podcast, Actions Detrimental, where they spent a lot of time discussing the wreck, the lead-up to the fight, the now viral brawl, and some self-reflections that followed.

On the incident itself, where Blaney crashed into the wall off the bumper of Hocevar, he relented that it was a ’50-50′ deal in terms of responsibility. 

“I was wanting to protect the bottom,” recalled Blaney. “He was wanting to get to the bottom and was there late by a little bit. And neither of us wanted to give. I wanted the bottom, he wanted (to be) there and I ended up getting turned. So really I put it on both parties. I don’t think he’s 100% to blame. I’m not 100% to blame. I think it was just two guys like fighting for the bottom at Bristol.”

Denny Hamlin noted how in that type of situation, there’s really two options for the driver in Hocevar’s position: The ‘nuclear option,’ which is to not lift and send the other car. The second option is to lift, and then apply a bump-and-run into the next corner, but it seems like Hocevar always chooses the aforementioned nuclear option.

Blaney agreed with Hamlin’s assessment, and even said that he would have deserved a bump-and-run while “I probably didn’t deserve to get absolutely trashed.” 

Anger building after the wreck

Watch: Inside the Hocevar-Blaney incident that led to post-race fight

As for his anger over the incident, Blaney said that he wasn’t actually angry with Hocevar from the get-go.

“It is interesting as I kind of reflect on it,” said Blaney. “It was kind of the opposite of what I normally am like. So, usually, if something happens, I kind of vent initially, and then I calm down really quick. Saturday night was weird because I didn’t blow up initially, I was just trying to get my car started, and it wouldn’t start. So they towed me back and we’re done, but I wasn’t like furious, nothing like that. I was kind of more calm than I normally am. And it built over time to where I got to where it was. So it was really the opposite of how I normally operate, which was strange. And I don’t know why that was. I really don’t.”

Blaney theorized that it was a buildup of multiple things over the past few weeks, with a blown brake rotor at Gateway, an unfortunate penalty while leading at Bristol, and just the loss of a lot of points at the start of the Chase.

“It’s just, what else can go wrong currently?”

The decision to confront Hocevar

Blaney actually didn’t intend to fight Hocevar, initially. “I wasn’t really planning on doing anything,” he noted. He also didn’t tell any member of his team what was about to happen, only handing the No. 12 crew chief Jonathan Hassler his phone before walking off.

“He had no idea what that meant … it’s not as cool as RC (Richard Childress), hold my watch. (before he fought Kyle Busch).

Blaney believes it’s not right to bring in a bunch of crew guys in a situation like, telling Hamlin: “If you go to find confrontation, as opposed to if someone comes to you, then I think you have the cavalry. But in my mind, I’m not going to go walk over there with six of my guys. I’m going to need to do this myself. I think that’s kind of a rule.”

The fight itself

Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney fight

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Blaney finally began to detail the fight itself, again noting how he had no real plan walking in there, and feels like he made the wrong decision in hindsight.

“…Really, the only plan of mine was, I’m going to have a stern conversation with Carson,” said Blaney. “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. But I look at it as, well, if someone comes up to me — and granted I kind of pushed him at the chest and kind of grabbed him pretty aggressively — that you’re probably going to defend yourself. And he rightfully did.

“He landed a pretty good right hand. Yeah, it got me pretty good. And the hat just kind of flung off my head. And so when that happened, I was like, okay, well, I should probably return fire at this point. And so I had that prepared. And then Alan [Taylor, head of NASCAR security], the security guy, he, uh, he subdued that pretty quick.”

Blaney said he felt ‘immobilized’ in that moment as the Spire crew members were closing in and Hocevar prepared for a second punch.

“In my mind, I’m like, all right, I’m just going to eat this thing and continue to yell at him and stare at him while I just eat this other right (hook),” said Blaney. “And I’ll give it to him. He tagged me in the same exact spot that he got me the first time, right here in my cheekbone.

The second lunge and expressing regrets

Watch: From on-track to fight, this is what happened between Blaney and Hocevar

Blaney said the “funniest part of this thing” in his mind was what happened next, noting how everyone seemed to forget about him at that point. Hamlin praised the way he slipped through an entire group of people to get back to Hocevar, comparing it to an NFL running back.

“I was like, I gotta get back in … And so I got back in there, kind of tackled this one guy into Carson, tried to jab a left kind of missed.”

And that was the end of the fight, but Blaney’s reflections went beyond that. After some self-reflection, he focused on the kind of role model he wants to be, and it’s not one who throws punches after disagreements. 

“There are things that I regret,” admitted Blaney. “I try to set a good example for kids who are watching, who are fans, their parents who are allowing these kids to watch races and root for their driver. And I try to act a certain way to what a kid would want to look up to. And I look back on those things and I definitely regret the way I acted, and that’s really unlike me. But I was just frustrated and you just do these things.”

He later added: “Man, I just wish I wouldn’t have done that. I wish I had gone about it in a different way (for) people watching, and I don’t ever want to set a bad example.

“And I’ll be honest, I went over there and I got my ass kicked, for sure. I ate a two piece, and got tagged pretty good. I just wanted to show my displeasure.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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