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Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar say their fight after last month’s Bristol Night Race has not turned into a feud, and Hocevar said he even helped Blaney shop for a Ferrari.
Both Ryan Blaney and Hocevar were asked about their relationship by Racing America’s Matt Weaver at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, in comments posted on X by Noah Lewis.
https://x.com/Noah_Lewis1/status/2114038599222006028
What happened at Bristol
On September 19, Hocevar and Blaney were racing for second late in the race when Hocevar tried a crossover move and Blaney blocked. The contact sent Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford into the Turn 1 wall and ended his night. After Blaney was released from the infield care center, he went to Hocevar’s car, and the two traded punches before being separated, according to NASCAR.com.
NASCAR did not penalize either driver.
Blaney: ‘I don’t walk around with a grudge’
“I don’t walk around with a grudge on my shoulder; I get over that stuff and go out,” Blaney said. “And the funny thing is, we had our little mix-up at Bristol, and we’ve raced each other even better than we were before, which we really didn’t have any problems before. So yeah, I mean, it really hasn’t changed at all.”
Hocevar said the two were friendly before Bristol. He said Blaney flew home on his team’s plane after New Hampshire, and that the two had talked for months about the WhistlinDiesel crew.
“But yeah, we were cool already before I kind of got to give him a little bit of crap after Bristol,” Hocevar said.
The Ferrari story
Hocevar said he connected Blaney with a seller when Blaney was looking for a Ferrari, and after Bristol he drove one to Blaney’s motorhome with a box of cigars.
“So it’s just a fun story that I’ll be able to tell for a long time,” Hocevar said. “But I want to make sure I rolled up to his bus in a Ferrari just to kind of egg at him a little bit. But we’ve always been cool.”
Blaney confirmed the help. “He got me connected with some people of a potential buyer,” he said. “I didn’t pull the trigger on it, but he did help me with contacts.”
Both start deep at Talladega
Blaney is fifth in the Chase, 40 points behind leader Kyle Larson, and Hocevar is 11th. They start next to each other in Sunday’s YellaWood 500, with Hocevar 26th and Blaney 27th. The race starts at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
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