Richard Petty came to the defense of Carson Hocevar following a controversial NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Hall of Famer does not believe the driver of the No. 77 is to blame for the on-track contact with Ryan Blaney.
With 43 circuits remaining in the race, Blaney spun off the back bumper of Hocevar while battling for second, sending the driver of the No. 12 crashing into the wall. The incident led to a massive post-race fight between the two drivers.
Blaney posted a 33rd-place finish after crashing out of the race, while Hocevar earned a third-place result.
Petty on Hocevar/Blaney incident: ‘Can’t blame the 77 for that’
In a recent episode of the “Petty Race Recap” podcast, hosted by Petty and his former crew chief, Hall of Famer Dale Inman, the 200-time Cup Series winner could not fault Hocevar for the on-track incident.
Instead, the co-owner of Legacy Motor Club pinned the blame on Blaney for attempting to block Hocevar as the two dove off into turn 1.
“I can’t blame the 77 for that. I’m gonna have to blame the 12 car for really trying to block him. … Well, he said he (Hocevar) was on the brake. I didn’t see the car slowing down any though,” Petty said.
Petty compared Hocevar to the late Dale Earnhardt, nicknamed “The Intimidator” for his aggressive driving style, and believes the NASCAR community sees parallels between the two.
“He’s almost The Intimidator now. … I think people are looking at it that way,” Petty said.
After the race, Petty said the TV broadcast was so focused on covering the fight that he did not even realize Joey Logano had won the race.
“They didn’t go to the 22 car (Logano), they went to the fight and it stayed on the fight for three or four minutes or whatever and I said, ‘Who won the race?’”
Hocevar, Blaney will not be penalized for post-race brawl
In the past, NASCAR drivers have received a fine or other penalties for post-race altercations.
One of the recent examples was when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fined $75,000 for punching Kyle Busch following the 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
That will not be the case for the post-race brawl between Hocevar and Blaney at Bristol. During an episode of Kevin Harvick’s “Happy Hour” podcast, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell explained why neither driver will be handed a penalty for the post-race chaos.
“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? 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,” O’Donnell said.
With seven races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, Blaney ranks sixth in the points standings, while Hocevar sits in eighth position.
Richard Petty Defends Carson Hocevar After Ryan Blaney Bristol Chaos