Carson Hocevar is like a loose cannon. He runs into his rivals, doesn’t shy away from controversies, but at Bristol, he seems to have kickstarted the biggest beef in the modern era. On Lap 457, Hocevar made contact with the No. 12 Ford, sending Ryan Blaney crashing into the wall. It was hard racing that turned out to be worse for the Team Penske driver. If anything, he tried to block Hocevar’s run with an aggressive block, which proved to be a bad call for him. Yet, Blaney stood his ground, suggesting that he wasn’t the guilty party and putting the blame on Hocevar.

“Oh, I have no idea. I just felt like he didn’t lift. I left plenty of room for a lap before that and didn’t run him into the fence or anything like that. I protected the bottom, and he just decided he wanted to be there and didn’t lift,” Blaney said after being released from the infield care center. At least, this is what he made of the crash.

After clearing the No. 77 Chevy for second place, Blaney decided to play defense. He could’ve opted for the top lane and gotten clear once again. But after seeing Hocevar trying to pull off a crossover move, the No. 12 moved down the track. Ideally, the lead car dictates the position, forcing the trailing car to hit the brakes. But Hocevar decided otherwise, leading to a crash and a brawl on pit road.

After the checkered flag dropped at Bristol, Blaney confronted Hocevar on pit road. He grabbed him by his suit, and before he could vent his frustration, the Spire Motorsports driver started throwing punches. He connected with two right hooks to Blaney’s face and sent the Penske driver tumbling. But that wasn’t the end of the brawl.

Despite officials and team members restraining Blaney, he broke loose and weaved his way through the crowd to catch hold of Hocevar. He jumped over the Spire team member protecting Hocevar and landed a punch of his own. It was absolute chaos, bringing back memories of the 2014 Texas brawl involving Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon.

Hocevar was pumped after standing up to Blaney, and he wound up the crowd in the grandstands. However, this gesture wasn’t appreciated by other Ford drivers. Ryan Preece expressed his displeasure and had an exchange with Hocevar, whereas Josh Berry asked the young driver to keep his mouth shut with his gesture.

It looks like a Ford vs. Chevy driver beef now. Only a few weeks ago at Darlington, Brad Keselowski had warned Hocevar about potential payback over their on-track incident. But as always, the young Spire driver was unfazed by the action or threats.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever hit anybody, so that’s a cool story. At least that’s going to be a Bristol [moment], of all places. I don’t know if he tripped on somebody or got a decent one in. I don’t know what a good one feels like,” Hocevar said after the brawl. Although it might be too soon to judge who won the fight at Bristol, the fans seemed to favor Carson Hocevar.

The fans lined up in a queue to cheer on Hocevar as he was leaving the racetrack. Hocevar embraced the fans as he high-fived them while making his exit. Unsurprisingly, the driver also put a 12% discount on his merchandise, adding another dig at the Penske driver. This fight between the two drivers added another iconic moment to Bristol’s storied history.

However, fans are questioning how NASCAR would treat this scuffle. Last time around, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. punched Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro, he was fined $75,000. While Blaney was the one who made it clear that “something will happen,” it was Hocevar who first landed the punches. It will be interesting to see how NASCAR rules on this fight and whether they will intervene to avoid more clashes between the two drivers.