No penalties will be issued to Carson Hocevar or Ryan Blaney after their fight on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said Monday on Kevin Harvick’s “Happy Hour” Podcast.
The two contenders in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 each landed punches in a pit-road altercation following the Bass Pro Shops Night Race that sparked after an on-track incident between them.
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Joining Harvick on his podcast, O’Donnell noted that NASCAR officials have stated “drivers need to handle their business outside of the car.” That manifested itself through Blaney and Hocevar’s conflict Saturday, factoring into the sanctioning body’s decision not to penalize either driver.
“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?” O’Donnell said. “And those are two guys — 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.”
The fracas began on the race track in a battle for second. Hocevar attempted a crossover move on Blaney and darted to his left. Blaney attempted to block the pass and contact was made, sending Blaney’s car into the Turn 1 wall. The team deemed the damage irreparable given the few laps remaining, ending Blaney’s day prematurely.
After he was evaluated and released from the infield care center and following the conclusion of the race, Blaney walked to Hocevar’s car and reached for Hocevar. Hocevar reacted by swinging, landing punches to Blaney before Blaney was taken to the ground. Blaney bounced back and returned for a swing of his own before the two were separated again.
Blaney went to his team’s hauler following the scrum while Hocevar spoke to media members to offer his perspective, noting: “I understand why he’s [Blaney’s] upset. That’s probably his championship. So I understand 100%. And I’d probably 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.”
A note from NASCAR Communications on Monday stated: “Further review is being conducted to determine penalties to any crew members involved in the incident, and if necessary, any penalties will be announced later this week.” O’Donnell said during his appearance that NASCAR prefers not to see crew members involved in the confrontation.
Blaney sits sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase points standings, 52 points behind series leader Kyle Larson entering Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hocevar is eighth, 85 points behind Larson and 33 markers behind Blaney.