On Monday evening, NASCAR sent out an update to the media explaining that the sanctioning body will not exercise any penalties for Carson Hocevar or Ryan Blaney following a post-race fight between the two drivers after last Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
According to NASCAR, further review of the incident is being conducted to determine penalties to any crew members involved in the post-race scuffle. If any penalties are to be handed out, they will be announced later this week.
This is a significant shift in NASCAR’s policy regarding post-race fist fights.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fined $75,000 by the sanctioning body following a decision to punch Kyle Busch after the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Stenhouse, who was crashed by Busch early in the event, had the remainder of the event to stew about the accident and chose to take action as Busch returned to the NASCAR Cup Series garage.
What ensued was a brawl between Stenhouse, Busch, and their respective crews.
While NASCAR still doesn’t condone fighting, the sanctioning body has chosen a different path in an effort to not extinguish the passion shown by drivers in disappointing moments on the track.
“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,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said in an interview on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast. “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.”
Based on the words from O’Donnell and the decision by NASCAR not to penalize Hocevar or Blaney, the drivers have seemingly been given the green light to “Have at it, boys,” once again.
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