For as much as NASCAR tends to promote fighting and encourages it without explicitly encouraging it, it would have been an extremely two-faced decision to penalize Carson Hocevar or Ryan Blaney for what went down on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After contact between the two on the race track led to Blaney wrecking out of the race, he confronted Hocevar in the pits and things quickly got physical, marking the first time that anybody has ever truly stood up to Hocevar due to frustration with his driving.
Blaney grabbed Hocevar, and Hocevar punched Blaney in the face, before several crew members got involved to separate the two as the brawl continued.
It was confirmed earlier this week that NASCAR would not be penalizing Hocevar or Blaney for the scuffle, a move that was well-received by fans. Blaney would also not be penalized for dropping the f-bomb on live TV, a move that will sit well with just about anybody other than fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. from 2004.
NASCAR makes additional Bristol penalty decision
Steve O'Donnell did note that NASCAR plans to monitor the situation moving forward, which is not all that surprising given their past stance on retaliation.
What he did not initially confirm, however, was whether any crew members would be penalized. But after an assessment of their involvement in the matter, NASCAR has now stated that nobody, crew members included, will be issued any sort of penalty for what happened on Saturday night.
NASCAR says there are no penalties from the Bristol weekend, including no penalties to crew members.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 22, 2026
All things considered, this too seems like the right move. Yes, many NASCAR fans would probably prefer that the crews stay out of it and let the drivers solve things themselves, but that's simply not a realistic standard to abide by, due to the risk of serious injury.
As long as the crew members are truly not escalating the matter, there is no reason to penalize them, and while some might argue that Hocevar's crew went too far in restraining Blaney, at no point did they put him in any additional danger. They did indeed help to deescalate the conflict, and there was no reason to issue any fines or suspensions as a result.
