Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar were racing for second place with 43 laps left in Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Hocevar dove to the inside in Turn 1, the two cars touched, and Blaney spun into the wall, ending his night. Joey Logano went on to win the race. Blaney finished 33rd and dropped to sixth in the Chase standings, 52 points behind new leader Kyle Larson. Minutes later, Blaney confronted Hocevar near the infield care center and shoved him. Hocevar threw two punches back — one knocked off Blaney's hat, the other landed on his cheek. NASCAR has talked to both drivers but hasn't issued a penalty as of Sunday night. NASCAR's weekly penalty report usually comes out on Tuesdays, so a ruling could land as soon as then.

1. Let Them Race (Carson Hocevar, broadcaster Regan Smith, NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell)

This is what Bristol racing looks like, and NASCAR should leave it alone.

This was normal racing. "I crossed him over and looked like he spun himself, and then he wants to instigate a fight," Hocevar said. He added that turning cleanly under pressure isn't always possible: "I thought we were racing fine... I thought it was going to work out fine. You just can't turn."

He's not sorry about the punches either, since Blaney shoved him first. "I feel like if you made a mistake, then you should have just thrown a punch. I don't know what else I'm supposed to do there," Hocevar said, calling it "an old-school Bristol show."

Some want NASCAR to just stay out of it. Regan Smith, a FOX Sports NASCAR broadcaster who also runs select Truck Series races, posted after the fight: "Wanted to go to bed after the race, but what too much fun stuff to scroll coming out of Bristol right now. One thought: PLEASE NO PENALTIES NASCAR." Part-time driver Corey LaJoie said he "can't get enough of all the videos from last night."

NASCAR's CEO has said driver fights don't bother him. Steve O'Donnell said back in August, months before this fight: "I'm okay with it. I think that's fair," adding that his real concern is crew members piling on, not the drivers themselves. NASCAR has also let drivers off before for heat-of-the-moment fights. That's why many expect Blaney and Hocevar to walk away clean this time too.

2. This Is a Pattern, Not a Bad Night (former team boss Tommy Baldwin, drivers Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Zane Smith)

Hocevar has been running into and angering people all season, and Saturday just fits the pattern.

A former team boss says this is deliberate. Tommy Baldwin, who ran his own Cup team until 2016 and later worked as Rick Ware Racing's competition director until this July, said on the "Door Bumper Clear" podcast: "He's driving like a f---ing lunatic at the beginning of the race. Just bouncing off everybody, moving everybody on." He added: "By the time it's lap 30, there's nothing left of his car to go fast," and "People are tired of it."

Driver after driver has made the same complaint this year. Kyle Larson accused him of deliberately spinning during pace laps at New Hampshire to draw TV attention. Fellow driver Bubba Wallace told him over the summer his driving was "creating a lot of enemies." Driver Zane Smith said Hocevar puts on "an act to get people to buy in."

This isn't the first time Blaney's called Hocevar out this season. After Hocevar spun him at Atlanta, Blaney called him an "absolute weapon" and a "moron" over his radio. That shows Blaney's frustration had been building well before Saturday.

Not every veteran agrees Hocevar is a problem. Veteran driver Chase Elliott said in July: "I have no issues with him. I really don't," adding Hocevar "has given me quite a lot of respect really ever since those early on incidents" during his rookie season.

3. Blaney's Case: This One Cost Him, and He Wasn't Waiting on NASCAR (Ryan Blaney)

Blaney says he got hit defending a position he'd earned, so he settled it himself instead of waiting on a ruling.

He says the crash wasn't his fault. "I tried to protect the bottom, he crossed and never lifted, and I got crashed," Blaney said. He was blunter about who was to blame: "I don't f---ing know. I got crashed. Each person is going to say they did nothing wrong."

This finish cost him, and the championship is on the line. It was Blaney's second straight finish outside the top 30 in the playoffs, and it dropped him to sixth in the standings, 52 points off the lead.

He didn't wait to deal with Hocevar. Asked if he'd talk to Hocevar during the week, Blaney said: "How about tonight?" — then walked up and shoved him on pit road.

Where This Lands

Hocevar, Regan Smith, and NASCAR's own CEO all say this is the kind of racing the sport should want more of. NASCAR's history of letting heat-of-the-moment fights go also suggests both drivers may end up unpunished. Tommy Baldwin and a group of veteran drivers say Hocevar's aggression is a season-long pattern that's wearing thin. Chase Elliott doesn't share the complaint. Blaney says none of that changes what happened to him Saturday. He was defending a spot, his car ended up in the wall, and he started the fight himself because he wasn't going to wait on NASCAR. NASCAR will likely release its penalty report around Tuesday, settling whether the sanctioning body agrees.

Sources