NASCAR fans remain divided over both the Bristol incident between Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar and the heated pit-road confrontation that followed. While opinions continue to differ over who was responsible for the on-track contact, NASCAR insider Andrew Kurland points to Blaney’s own spotter audio for a different perspective. The five-word verdict from Kurland puts the blame on Blaney and suggests the Bristol saga may be far from over.

“So I was covering Ryan Blaney on Saturday night, and I was listening to his spotter radio as that moment happened, and a spotter, Tim Fedewa, said, ‘Inside, inside, inside.’ And then that’s when Blaney was spun and sent into the SAFER barrier. I have to call a spade a spade. I truly do feel like it was Ryan Blaney’s fault. I don’t think he was clear. I think he moved to the inside when his spotter was saying inside,” PRN Live’s pit reporter Andrew Kurland revealed recently.

The incident unfolded on Lap 457 with Blaney and Hocevar battling for second place. Hocevar made his move underneath the No. 12 Ford, looking to get alongside Blaney and complete the pass. Blaney attempted to shut the door and prevent Hocevar from getting through, but the move did not work. Contact between Blaney and the front of Hocevar’s No. 77 sent Blaney into a spin, eventually putting him into the SAFER barrier and ending his race.

While the immediate reaction of the majority of the NASCAR community centered on Hocevar’s aggressive move, Kurland’s assessment puts the sequence in a different light. Having listened to Blaney’s spotter radio as the incident unfolded, he focused on the warning Fedewa gave his driver moments before the contact.

According to Kurland, the repeated “Inside, inside, inside” call should have alerted Blaney that Hocevar was alongside him. That led the reporter to conclude that Blaney moved toward the inside despite the warning that another car was there. In Kurland’s view, Blaney simply did not have enough clearance to make the move safely.

However, Kurland also acknowledged the broader context surrounding Hocevar. With criticism of Hocevar building and other drivers openly discussing the possibility of standing up to him, Kurland believes Blaney became the driver who finally confronted him. That does not change his view of the crash itself, but it adds another dimension to the aftermath and the rivalry that followed.

Blaney’s championship run takes another major hit at Bristol

Bristol was supposed to be another opportunity for Ryan Blaney to strengthen his championship position. Instead, the contact with Carson Hocevar turned a competitive night into another race he could not finish, leaving Blaney with back-to-back DNFs at a crucial stage of the Chase.

The timing makes the setback even more significant. Blaney had entered the Bristol weekend only 33 points behind Denny Hamlin and had managed to bring himself into the championship lead at one point during the race. A strong finish could have completely reshaped the battle at the front. Instead, the crash dropped him to 33rd and left him with just 19 points.

Blaney’s recent results have now erased much of the ground he had gained earlier in the Chase. His Gateway retirement came after a brake rotor failure sent him into the outside wall while he was running sixth. That 35th-place result was followed by another non-finish at Bristol, leaving the Team Penske driver searching for a reset with seven races still to run.

The situation looks considerably different from where Blaney began the Chase. He was second in the standings after the regular season, only 25 points behind Hamlin, and a fourth-place result at Darlington kept him near the front. But consecutive setbacks have pushed him down to sixth, with Larson now 52 points ahead.

There is still a substantial amount of racing left before the championship is decided at Homestead-Miami. The 10-race Chase rewards consistency because every stage point and every finishing position can influence the final standings. With as many as 76 points available in a race, Blaney has opportunities to make up ground, but he will need to turn those opportunities into strong results quickly.