Joey Logano controlled the closing seven laps Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, taking the lead from Carson Hocevar and holding on for victory. Yet Hocevar, who finished third, became the center of attention after a postrace confrontation with Ryan Blaney.
Hocevar, a 23-year-old known for an aggressive style that has frustrated several NASCAR veterans, exchanged punches with Blaney in the pits. The incident followed their battle for second place with 41 laps remaining.
After completing the race in third, Hocevar stopped his car. Blaney approached and shoved him.
Hocevar, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and several inches taller than Blaney, answered with two overhand punches.
The first punch knocked Blaney’s hat off, while the second struck him on the left side of his face.
Blaney fell onto the pavement, then got back up and broke free from a crew member who was trying to restrain him. Hocevar raised his arms and pointed toward Blaney.
Blaney rushed toward Hocevar and swung a wild left hand, knocking Hocevar’s hat to the ground.
Team members quickly separated the two drivers as Blaney continued shouting at Hocevar.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of talking,” Hocevar said. “He just kind of said one thing and then went after me, and I wasn’t going to take it. I got ran into a lot for the win. That was for second and he wants to come fight. They got an old-school Bristol show here.”
The on-track dispute began soon after Blaney moved into second with an outside pass on Hocevar. Hocevar immediately drove his No. 77 Chevrolet toward the lower portion of the track.
Blaney moved down to block, but Hocevar kept his foot on the accelerator. The contact sent Blaney’s No. 12 Ford into a spin and eventually into the inside wall.
“I don’t know what I did wrong there,” Hocevar said. “I crossed him over and looked like he spun himself, and then he wants to instigate a fight, so I was going to finish that, and it seemed like the crowd was pretty pumped up, so I was going to play the audience for a second.”
Speaking during the race, Blaney said, “I tried to protect the bottom, he crossed and never lifted, and I got crashed.”
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Asked who was responsible for the incident, Blaney replied, “I don’t (expletive) know. Each person is going to say they did nothing wrong.”
Logano began the race from the pole and led 93 laps, moving into third in the points standings with the victory.
Kyle Larson finished second and took a one-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the Chase standings.
Christopher Bell placed fourth, with Ty Gibbs finishing fifth after leading 120 laps.
Gibbs drove the No. 54 Toyota in a paint scheme honoring the late Kyle Busch, who holds the record with 23 NASCAR national-series victories at Bristol.
The car was one of several tributes to the Richard Childress Racing driver, who died in May.
On the 18th lap, fans waved yellow towels in memory of Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won both titles driving the No. 18 Toyota.
His widow, Samantha, addressed the crowd before the race.
“Bristol was always so special to Kyle,” Samantha Busch said. “He loved racing under the lights, the energy of this place, and most of all, the fans. For 20 years, this sport was our life. It’s where we raised our babies and made some of our very best memories. I never imagined we’d be standing here without him. But looking out at all of you reminds me that we aren’t walking this alone.”
Legal battle continues
In its federal lawsuit that accuses Spire Motorsports of cheating by using stolen intellectual property, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a motion Thursday claiming that Spire and chief motorsports officer Chris Gabehart violated a temporary restraining order and should be held in contempt.
A federal judge ruled in March that Gabehart can work for Spire but not in the competition director role he was in while with Joe Gibbs Racing last season.
Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson responded to the motion in a statement Friday night. “JGR does not get to control what other race teams do through court cases,” Dickerson said. “JGR does not own tire pressures, JGR does not own the people who work in this industry, and JGR does not own Spire. Spire looks forward to responding to JGR’s motion in court. To be clear, months of discovery have shown that Spire Motorsports has done nothing wrong.”
Up next
The NASCAR Cup Series will begin a stretch of three consecutive races on 1.5-mile ovals with Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 27. Tyler Reddick won the April 19 race at the track in Kansas City, Kansas.