NASCAR CEO comments after the fight between Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar at Bristol Motor Speedway
On Saturday night, fans went to a short track race at Bristol Motor Speedway and a fight broke out. Carson Hocevar made contact with Ryan Blaney late in the race, sending Blaney into the outside wall.
Blaney waited around in the infield after the race. He says he just wanted to see who won the race.
But, when the race ended, tension escalated. Blaney went over to have a chat with Hocevar on the pit lane after he climbed from him car.
Hocevar reacted to a grab of his suit and threw a punch. Then he threw another. Blaney was tackled to the ground by crew members.
Seconds later, Blaney made a charge at Hocevar. He was able to get a jab in.
Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney trade punches at Bristol (Video)
Will NASCAR issue a penalty? That’s been the question since the altercation. NASCAR explains their stance…
NASCAR CEO comments on the fight between Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar
“Don’t use your car as a weapon so to speak,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell clarified the sanctioning bodies stance via the Happy Hour Podcast.
“I mean, we know the Brad Keselowski incident in Talladega with Carl Edwards. Those type of things. We don’t want to see that.”
“A right hook [of a car]. We don’t want to see that. But, we’ve been on record, the drivers need to handle their business outside of the car.”
“We don’t want crew members. You know, you got a lot of big guys coming out of D1 football.”
“If drivers are going to handle their own business, the way we looked at that, how it played out. You know, we’re not going to encourage fighting. But, what we are going to encourage is passion.”
“Those are two guys… You know, Blaney is showing his passion, showing his fire.”
“So no, there’s nothing coming from us in terms of… we’ll obviously watch what happens the rest of the way. But, nothing in terms of post-race penalties.”
NASCAR typically releases the official penalty report on Tuesday.
Ryan Blaney comments after the fight with Carson Hocevar (Video)
Steve O’Donnell comments on the fight at Bristol Motor Speedway (Video)
Ryan Blaney’s wife joins the NASCAR feud with Carson Hocevar
Links
Carson Hocevar | Ryan Blaney | Bristol Motor Speedway | NASCAR
