Facing the heat wouldn’t have fazed Carson Hocevar. That much was certain after he made contact with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and spun him out of the race in Bristol on Saturday night. He’s had run-ins with multiple drivers in 2026 itself and has appeared unapologetic about most of them. But when Blaney squared off with the controversial Spire talent trackside after the race and landed two punches to Hocevar’s face, it led to debate online on who was at fault. Yet amid the chaos, Blaney’s wife Gianna Tulio’s comment stood out.
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NASCAR shared multiple videos of the fight between Hocevar and Blaney on their social media, and in one of the Instagram videos, Gianna Tulio took a personal shot at Hocevar.
“Not surprised by the #77’s aggressive behavior with the criminal record he has,” she wrote in a comment under the post. “Wait, I forgot most of you don’t know about it because he got it paid off… allegedly, oops,” she ominously added.
It was a huge claim, but one that remains unsubstantiated. Gianna didn’t provide any proof to back her claims, but it was enough to spark a debate in the comments section.
Hocevar has clashed with plenty of drivers in the garage this season. He’s found himself on the wrong side of Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, and Brad Keselowski, with the latter warning after Darlington that “Hocevar’s day was coming” after his No. 6 Ford was wrecked in the Southern 500. Many in the NASCAR community thought that was about as intense as Hocevar’s season could get. But then Blaney and Bristol had other plans.
Blaney and Hocevar were battling for second with around 43 laps remaining in the final stage. Blaney had just passed the Spire star when, heading into the corner, the No. 77 Chevrolet made a crossover move to the inside. Blaney moved down to defend the bottom, resulting in contact. His No. 12 Ford spun, hit the wall, and came to a stop on the track.
Hocevar went on to finish third behind Joey Logano and Kyle Larson, and he moved up to eighth place in the Chase. But Blaney, who got classified 33rd despite winning Stage 2, dropped down two places to sixth.
Livid, Blaney confronted Hocevar as he exited his car. Blaney grabbed him; Hocevar retaliated with two punches to the face. Blaney fought back and managed to land a punch of his own, but the many people around them quickly restrained the two as thousands of fans at Bristol roared in approval.
“I protected pretty early, and Hocevar just kept coming left and never lifted and crashed me… I left him plenty of room for a lap before that. I didn’t chop him. I didn’t run him into the fence or nothing like I easily could have,” Blaney said in a post-race interview, clearly placing the blame on Hocevar.
He also insisted that, despite Hocevar’s reputation, he had no issues with the Spire driver before this incident. As for Hocevar, he said he had no intention of wrecking Blaney and that the Penske driver did that to himself and then started a fight in the pit lane.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of talking. He just kind of said one thing and then went after me, and I wasn’t going to take it… I saw him coming, and he’s moving pretty fast, and then he grabbed me, and I was like, ‘OK, I’m not going to wait… I’m going to start swinging and see what happens,'” Hocevar said.
The story appears to be far from over. Tulio’s comments have only added more questions to the situation. Now, it remains to be seen whether Blaney and Hocevar can put the Bristol incident behind them or if their rivalry will continue the next time they meet on track.