Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney are not friends. The two NASCAR drivers got in a fight at Bristol on Saturday, which was only escalated further by the wife of the latter.
Blaney’s wife, former Miss Hooters International titleholder Gianna Blaney (Tulio), dropped some pretty serious allegations in the comment section on Instagram.
This latest NASCAR feud did not take long to escalate to fisticuffs. A new rivalry is born!
Carson Hocevar threw a punch during a NASCAR fight at Bristol.
Ryan Blaney ended up in the wall on Lap 458 of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night. The crash happened shortly after he took second place. Carson Hocevar drove up behind him. One thing led to another.
It was either bad racing by Hocevar or a bad block by Blaney, depending on who you ask. Here is a look at what happened:
Additional angles of the incident involving @CarsonHocevar and @Blaney. pic.twitter.com/VoW3asW8vI
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 20, 2026
Blaney was livid.
“I don’t fucking know. I got crashed.” – Ryan Blaney about his incident with Carson Hocevar@AlwaysRaceDay pic.twitter.com/poD0cKYHyE
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthewCFB) September 20, 2026
The 32-year-old claims Hocevar “never lifted” before making the contact, which ultimately led to the wreck. He “got crashed.” Hocevar, on the other hand, defended his racing line. The 23-year-old said he was already committed to the inside when Blaney came down to block.
“I kind of crossed him over there, and I felt like I was at least at his left rear, and it looked like he just kept coming down. I was on the brakes pretty hard, and he obviously spun, and it resulted in that.”
Regardless of who was right and who was wrong, the wreck led to a heated incident after the race. Here is a full recap:
Blaney grabbed Hocever. Hocevar turned Blaney, who didn’t get a punch in. Here is a better look at the fight:
Hocevar was not going to let Blaney beat him to the punch. Literally.
“I saw him and I was like, ‘okay, he’s moving pretty fast for a convo and then he grabbed me. And I was like, I’m not going to wait. I’ve seen enough of these. I’m just going to start swinging and see what happens.”
The former understands why the latter was upset. Although, his response was tongue-in-cheek.
“That’s probably his championship, so I understand 100 percent. I’d probably be mad, too. Whether it was his mistake, my mistake, my fault or not — I’d be pretty pissed if I was him.”
NASCAR will review the fight and determine whether any penalties are warranted. That decision will likely come on Tuesday.
Ryan Blaney’s wife chimed in on the longstanding beef.
Carson Hocevar is widely considered to be the “bad boy” of racing, if you will. He was penalized in 2024 for hooking Harrison Burton under caution. That was after he was parked for two laps during a Truck Series race for a similar move. Spire Motorsports fined him $50,000 in 2025 for derogatory comments about Mexico City. NASCAR fined him another $50K for revving his engine near safety workers in October. He also spun Corey Heim during the 2023 Truck Series championship.
That only begins to scratch the surface of the drama that involves Hocevar. Saturday is just the latest.
In response to the (fairly one-sided) fistfight, Ryan Blaney’s wife dropped some pretty serious allegations in the comment section on Instagram. Gianna, who was crowned as Miss Hooters International in 2021, did not hold back her thoughts on Hocevar.
She claims he has a criminal record.
“Not surprised by the #77 aggressive behavior with the criminal record he has. Wait, I forgot most of you don’t know about it because he got it paid off!! Oops *allegedly*”
You can find her comment here:
Public record cannot verify Blaney’s claim. Neither Hocevar nor NASCAR addressed the allegations. I was not able to find any truth to her claim. Perhaps he did get a criminal record paid off, perhaps not!