TRACK TUSSLE

NASCAR Racers Get Physical After Intense Race

They had to be pulled apart by team members.

Things got ugly between NASCAR stars Carson Hocevar, 23, and Ryan Blaney, 32, after a Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The athletes’ cars made contact while they competed for second place, with 41 laps remaining. Hocevar’s move sent Blaney’s No. 12 Ford spinning into the inside wall. After Hocevar finished third, he was met with a shove from Blaney. Hocevar, who stands 6-foot-4, punched Blaney twice, knocking off his hand and landing one on his left cheek. Blaney fell to the ground but quickly recovered, punching Hocevar back before team members separated them. “There wasn’t a whole lot of talking,” Hocevar said. “He just kind of said one thing and then went after me, and I wasn’t going to take it. I got ran into a lot for the win. That was for second and he wants to come fight. They got an old-school Bristol show here.” “I tried to protect the bottom, he crossed and never lifted, and I got crashed,” Blaney said in an interview during the race. When asked who was at fault: “I don’t (expletive) know. Each person is going to say they did nothing wrong,” he said.