Mere days after a highly-publicized fight with Carson Hocevar, Ryan Blaney regrets his actions at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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He told Denny Hamlin during an appearance on Actions Detrimental that he wishes he had handled the evening differently, especially considering the impact he can have on viewers.
"I wish I wouldn't have done that, I wish I would have gone about that a better way, just from people watching and I don't ever want to set a bad example," Blaney said.
"And I'll be honest with you, I went over there and got my ass kicked, for sure. I ate a two-piece and got tagged pretty good, but I just wanted to show my displeasure."
POV: You're in the middle of the Hocevar and Blaney fight 😲 pic.twitter.com/mX9IhzrFdL
— NASCAR on USA (@NASCARonUSA) September 20, 2026
This fight came after contact on the track led to Blaney wrecking. He cleared Hocevar crossing the start-finish line on Lap 457. Hocevar countered by trying to go low in a crossover move. Blaney also went low while blocking, and the contact led to him spinning into the inside wall.
Blaney told Hamlin that he now puts the blame 50-50 on each of them. He didn't fully blame Hocevar for wrecking him, and he didn't blame himself fully for blocking. He called it just two guys fighting for the bottom at Bristol.
Saturday night, he viewed the situation differently. He put more blame on Hocevar, which is why he wanted to have a "stern conversation" with his fellow driver after the race.
Blaney didn't even have full intentions of sparking a brawl on pit road. He said that he had remained calmer than normal in the immediate aftermath of the wreck and as the final laps clicked down. The anger just built as he headed to Hocevar, which Blaney said is the opposite of how he normally operates.
"I wasn't planning on throwing anything," he said. "I just really wanted to grab him and pretty much yell at him, you know, and show my displeasure. But I look at it as, well, if someone comes up to me — and granted I kind of pushed him at the chest and kind of grabbed him pretty aggressively — that you're probably going to defend yourself. And he rightfully did.
"He landed a pretty good right hand. Yeah, it got me pretty good. And the hat just kind of flung off my head. And so when that happened, I was like, 'Okay, well, I should probably return fire at this point.' And so I had that prepared. And then Alan (Taylor), the security guy, he, uh, he subdued that pretty quick."
