Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar gave NASCAR fans plenty to talk about when their Bristol Night Race ended with punches instead of a handshake. What began as a battle for second place on Lap 457 of 500 turned into a pit-road brawl after contact sent Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford into the wall, ending his race. Hocevar finished third, but the confrontation raised an obvious question: would the two drivers carry their differences into future races, or was the fight confined to one heated moment?

Ahead of the Talladega race, both drivers addressed that question during their respective media availabilities with journalist Matt Weaver. Their answers offered a clearer picture of where things stand, with Hocevar explaining the interactions that continued after Bristol and Blaney making clear that he had no interest in holding a grudge.

“I mean, we were cool before…like New Hampshire. He didn’t have a ride back after he won and whatever. And so he got on the fire plane because we were the only plane that had an extra seat,” was Hocevar’s reply to Weaver in a video posted on X by Noah Lewis. “He likes the WhistlinDiesel guys a lot, and he enjoys them, and so he always asks me. He’s always asked me for a few months, actually, what it’s like to go over there, what they got going on and stuff. 

“And he’d always had interest in the tank, so at Phoenix I was talking to him about, ‘Hey man, the tank comes next week. It’s pretty cool,’ and stuff. But yeah, we were cool already before I kind of got to give him a little bit of crap after Bristol. I hooked him up with Zeigler to try to get him a Ferrari because he wanted one, and like every race car driver, they’re cheap, and he didn’t want to buy it for the price of an old Ferrari. 

“So one of Zeigler’s guys had a Ferrari. So I went over to his motor in a Ferrari and gave him a box of cigars, just kind of out of a respect thing because they didn’t have to go, obviously, on Actions Detrimental and stuff. So it’s just a fun story that I’ll be able to tell for a long time. But I want to make sure I rolled up to his bus in a Ferrari just to kind of egg at him a little bit. But we’ve always been cool.”

Blaney’s response was just as direct. He dismissed the idea that the confrontation had fundamentally changed how the two drivers dealt with each other on the track.

“Not really any.” Blaney said, “Yeah, not really much, whether before or after, and so yeah. I mean. I don’t walk around with a grudge on my shoulder; I get over that stuff and go out. And the funny thing is, we had our little mix-up at Bristol, and we’ve raced each other even better than we were before, which we really didn’t have any problems before. So yeah, I mean, it really hasn’t changed at all.”

Blaney also confirmed that Hocevar had tried to help him as he explored buying a Ferrari, though the purchase never materialized.

“Well, that was back in the day. Yeah, he got me connected with some people of a potential buyer, which I was,” Blaney revealed. “I didn’t pull the trigger on it, but he did help me with contacts.”

Their comments put the fight in context, but their subsequent races provide another measure of how things have unfolded. At Kansas, Blaney finished fifth after starting 25th. Hocevar’s afternoon took a different turn when he became involved in a six-car crash on the Lap 123 restart, leaving him 33rd.

Las Vegas brought another strong run for Blaney, who finished fourth, while Hocevar placed eighth in Stage 1 and ultimately finished 12th. At Charlotte, Blaney again finished third, while Hocevar earned stage points before the race concluded. Neither driver’s results prove that their relationship improved, but there has been no repeat of the Bristol confrontation.

Phoenix offered another example. Blaney started from the pole, led 51 laps, and finished second to Tyler Reddick. Hocevar started 28th and worked his way forward to finish 12th. Their paths through the field were different, but the race produced no fresh flashpoint between them.

Now the focus shifts to Talladega Superspeedway, where the championship stakes leave little room for unnecessary trouble. Blaney enters the Chase in fifth, 40 points behind leader Kyle Larson. Hocevar sits 11th, 158 points back, with three races remaining heading into Talladega.

Qualifying has left both with ground to make up. Hocevar will start 26th, with Blaney starting 27th. At a track where drafting partners can make or break a run, cooperation in the pack can matter as much as outright speed.

Neither driver has suggested Bristol will dictate how they race each other. The fight happened, the frustration was real, and both have since offered their own account of what followed. Their message ahead of Talladega is straightforward: the incident has not turned into a lasting feud, and neither appears interested in making it one.