The post-race scrum between Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney overshadowed every other storyline to come out of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
It garnered more attention than Joey Logano’s win, more than a great finish and more than Kyle Larson jumping to the points lead.
But the fight overshadows those storylines in a good way. Blaney had enough of Hocevar’s driving, Hocevar — as he’s wont to do — stood up for himself with both his words and his fists, we got to see some guys punch each other and NASCAR ended up on SportsCenter.
Which driver won the fight? The one you like the most, of course.
The true winner of the fight? The fans.
Ryan Blaney Speaks Out About Carson Hocevar Fight: ‘I Didn’t Think I Deserved to Get Absolutely Trashed’
It was a breath of fresh air when compared to how things have gone lately when drivers feud. The intentional wreck or right hook isn’t new in any way, but it’s never been under quite the microscope it is now because of radio transmission and SMT data. The drivers have wised up since Ryan Preece got docked points for intentionally wrecking and admitting to doing so on the radio. Now, guys will blatantly wreck a driver and simply fade into NASCAR witness protection.
If you gave NASCAR owners the choice between their driver and car getting intentionally wrecked, potentially injuring the driver and costing you a lot of money, or said driver getting punched in the face on pit road, what do you think they’d choose? A lot more will pick the second option, as would fans, and, if they answered truthfully, the sanctioning body.
But the drivers? They’ll probably take their chances on intentionally wrecking someone for two reasons. For starters, the playbook is out on how to do it and get away with it. The second reason is more embedded in not just NASCAR but sports in general in the 21st century. People are fighting less, and what constitutes a “fight” has broadened to be … well … not really fighting.
That may be changing soon. NASCAR told media on Monday it doesn’t plan to fine or suspend Hocevar or Blaney for Saturday’s fight and is only looking into potential punishments for team members. Maybe more drivers will settle things the way whatever divine being put us here intended to. Not with million-dollar racecars, but with mutual combat.
Think of your favorite, or least favorite, NASCAR Cup Series driver and ask yourself: Can they fight? Some people’s answers would be a lot like Blaney’s after asking who’s to blame for his crash late at Bristol.
So let’s go through them, all 36 Cup Series drivers, and see who can fight.
Heavyweight Champ of the Garage
There are many ways a NASCAR fight can go, and often it’s one where there’s no clear winner. If you want to win a fight, Hocevar seemed to know the key ingredient in doing so. Get the first shot. It’ll be the most powerful.
Exhibit A of this practice is Chastain. After a race at Kansas Speedway in 2023, Noah Gragson came over to voice displeasure. As Gragson grabbed him, Chastain responded by saying “don’t do this,” then bam, one clean right before it broke up with the aid of security. It was a solid right, too. For all the run-ins Chastain had early in his Cup career, they never got near this physical again, and probably for good reason.
At this point you might be asking, what’s the scientific method for figuring this list out? What’s the determining factor in my driver being where they end up? The answer is simple: It’s based on my opinion.
For example, what do I constitute as a “fight”? To me, it’s when punches or some other form of aggression (takedown, hard shove, karate kick) is exchanged between both drivers, not a one-sided aggression.
From there, there’s this group of drivers who probably would be great if they ever got into a true fighting scenario.
(Probably) Can Whoop Some Butt
Chris Buescher, Austin Hill, Cole Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece
Stenhouse’s punch on Kyle Busch after the 2024 All-Star Race is iconic, but it’s just that, a punch. There wasn’t a shoving match leading up, and Kyle never got to get a shot of his own in.
Buescher, Hill, Custer and Preece are all big, tough looking dudes. Buescher and Custer both share the connection of at one point manhandling Tyler Reddick, not to mention Custer’s perfect tackle of John Hunter Nemechek in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series back in 2017.
Hill, to my knowledge, has only been in shouting matches since he threw a punch on Myatt Snider back in 2022. Like Stenhouse, it doesn’t feel fair to throw the first shot and then not see how you’d handle the rebuttal.
As for Preece, I couldn’t really find any case of him getting into a confrontation beyond shouting matches. Then again, I’m never going to bet against the guy in a fight with anyone, let alone a human being. My first interview I did for Frontstretch was at the Slinger Nationals in 2024 after a hard wreck into some tire barriers at the Chicago street course just days prior. He finished the race and I let him know I thought his day was done after the crash.
“Nah, I’m too tough,” Preece said.
Yeah man, I’m not betting against that guy.
Willing To Fight, But Probably Shouldn’t
Noah Gragson, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar
There is no shame in being in this category. These are racecar drivers, not fighters after all.
Gragson has had plenty of run-ins besides the punch from Chastain that made sure his bowl cut would live on in infamy. Keselowski famously had fights with Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth, though it was never really his choice and he’s probably not going to do it again at 42 years old.
Before they were teammates, Suarez and McDowell fought during qualifying at Phoenix Raceway. McDowell initiated but got thrown to the ground by Suarez, thus making the Mexican driver the clear winner, right? Well, he might have been if not for a bystander laying him on the hood of his own car like a blanket. Neither guy looked great after this one.
Logano’s most notable bout is probably with Hamlin from Martinsville Speedway in 2019, one that could have gotten really off the rails if not for a flurry of people jumping in the mix to stop it. Punches, pushes, this went the whole nine yards of what you expect from a NASCAR fight, and they wanted more.
“You wanna go?” Logano shouts over to Hamlin, now restrained by officials.
“Yes! Come here!” Hamlin responds.
They got a hold of each other again before someone came and calmed down Hamlin. Wait a minute, was that his crew chief Chris Gabehart? Ah shucks, good on Chris. Always looking out for Hamlin.
Notice Blaney watching on in the background? Yeah, he’d finally get his big brawl seven years later. By his own admission on Actions Detrimental, Blaney said he “got (my) ass kicked” by Hocevar, who landed two good punches on Blaney that will inevitably make the promo reels for Bristol’s 2027 races.
However, Hocevar didn’t leave the fight unscathed. When Blaney somehow worked his way back to throw a pair of punches of his own, Hocevar threw his hands in front of him like a kid who just learned how to play offensive lineman. Oh, and he got his own meme-worthy photo of Blaney getting in a decent punch.
By the way, who threw that water bottle?
Oh right, Gibbs! After a race he very easily could have won, Gibbs was pretty happy with his run and getting a front row seat to a fight. He even got to play a part without getting punched in the face. Then again, Gibbs ends up in this list for breaking the one unwritten rule of NASCAR fights. If you want to fight, you can’t throw a punch while leaving your helmet on.
Please God, Don’t Make Me Fight
Kyle Larson, Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Reddick
For the record, and to diffuse any thought that this story is me throwing down the gauntlet to the Cup garage, this is the category I’m in.
Can any of these drivers fight? There’s a chance they can. However, based on the confrontations they’ve had in their career, they don’t want to.
Larson getting shoved around by Bubba Wallace at Kansas Speedway in 2023 is as close as he’s gotten to a fight, though he looked content to be pushed around if it meant not trading punches.
Regan Smith once grabbed Ty Dillon by his firesuit and dragged him around the pits for a bit, but otherwise there’s not a lot to suggest Dillon is the fighting type. Until Nemechek fights someone, he probably won’t be able to live down the two seconds between him realizing Custer is racing towards him on the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park frontstretch and the moment of impact. And, as previously mentioned, Reddick’s only two major confrontations were just dudes grabbing him and nearly rag dolling him.
I’M SHOUTING, I’M SHOUTING (The ‘Everything But A Fight’ Category)
Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman
This is the category of guys I can’t say have been in a “fight,” but can’t say they haven’t tried.
Dillon got into some run-ins during his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series days, but nothing close to a fight. Elliott has had stern talks with Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, but no fights. Allmendinger isn’t afraid to tell a guy how he feels, but no fights.
Wallace is probably the king of this category. Shoving matches, yelling matches, and of course, throwing water at Bowman back in 2019 after the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL race. While it hasn’t happened much lately, Wallace looked hell bent on fighting someone early in his Cup career. The problem? Just never found a dance partner.
“Hell, I Don’t F****** Know.”
Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, William Byron, Todd Gilliland, Riley Herbst, Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Cody Ware, Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen
For all we know, the dozen drivers listed here — a third of the Cup Series field — could be filled with trained assassins and karate experts. But we don’t know. Why? Well, nobody really has a reason to fight them.
Some of these drivers barely have confrontations. The worst I could find for Cindric, Gilliland, Smith and Jones was a few somewhat spicy post-race remarks.
Berry flipped off Santino Ferrucci once. OK?
Zilisch wrecked van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen in the O’Reilly Series last year. That might have been something had Zilisch not promptly knocked himself unconscious briefly upon climbing out of the car.
I couldn’t find anything at all on Herbst, which after hearing glowing reviews from teammates like Reddick and Wallace of the No. 35 driver as a person, makes sense.
The only person in NASCAR I could find that wanted to fight Ware was Mike Joy at Martinsville in 2021.
For the most part, these are guys that keep a low profile on track and in the garage, not making too many enemies. There are three exceptions that surprise me: Byron, Bell and Briscoe.
Are these particularly dirty drivers with outspoken personalities? No. But they are competing for wins almost every week. How have they not gotten to the point of chucking knucks with someone in their careers over a win they didn’t get?
Well, maybe they just needed some convincing. With NASCAR letting the Blaney-Hocevar issue stand, maybe they won’t think twice about getting physical with someone who cost them a win or valuable points in a format that now puts good results above everything.
James Krause joined Frontstretch in March 2024 as a contributor. Krause was born and raised in Illinois and graduated from Northern Illinois University. He currently works in Fort Wayne, Indiana covering minor league, college and high school sports. Outside of racing, Krause loves to keep up with football, music, anime and video games.
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