We all know who holds the torch of aggression in NASCAR right now. Carson Hocevar, the 22-year-old sophomore driver in the Cup Series, has ruffled quite a few feathers in 2025. But what nobody was expecting was Hocevar’s influence extending to another part of the Spire Motorsports organization. It was like a battle call issued to Ryan Blaney soon after the Quaker State 400, and Blaney is not ignoring it at all.
The Team Penske driver is one of the rivals that Carson Hocevar has upset this season. It happened on NASCAR’s spring outing in Atlanta, when the No. 77 Chevy got into the back of Blaney’s No. 12 Ford on lap 234 and sent him for a spin. Now, Ryan Blaney cannot guarantee the safety of the 77 anymore.
Carson Hocevar is in for a harsh response
Well, there have been ups and downs in the Hocevar-Blaney situation. In the past, iconic rivalries sprang up between Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and Ernie Irvan, and so many others. Similarly, after Carson Hocevar’s February outing in Atlanta, he encountered Ryan Blaney in a different situation in Nashville. Despite running into Ricky Stenhouse Jr to move ahead, Hocevar could not match Blaney’s speed that day, and the No. 12 Ford won the race. Hocevar was clearly frustrated with his P2 finish: “It sucks when you don’t (win).” Before he could look for an opportunity again, NASCAR paired him up with Blaney for the in-season tournament in Atlanta. After this race, however, Hocevar needs to be mindful of the No. 12 Ford’s actions.
Here, Ryan Blaney faced chaos without Carson Hocevar‘s hand in it (so surprising, right?). Despite starting 3rd, a multi-car melee landed him in 40th place. Blaney incurred his 6th DNF of the season, a painful instance indeed. But then, Hocevar’s social media team rubbed salt on that wound. “They’re pretty much talking s—,” Blaney said in a recent ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’ episode. Initially, he was not bothered. Blaney said, “I’m happy he was able to beat me when I got crashed on lap 50, that was…a great job by the whole Spire Motorsports team. So I saw that, I wasn’t really in a mood, I was like, ‘Eh, it’s Speedway racing, whatever.’”
Everything was cool, until @Blaney logged on to Twitter…
Ryan returns to Door Bumper Clear – and it’s out now!
Apple: https://t.co/Gvg1cK0HhP
Spotify: https://t.co/DkVbPV9pYZ
YouTube: https://t.co/qulU4xeThN@FreddieKraft | @KarsynElledge3 | @TBR7NY pic.twitter.com/1JLYoFZ3Dg
— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) June 30, 2025
Carson Hocevar’s social media team wrote, “Thanks for accepting our trade, Blaney.” What they meant was Hocevar winning “a trip to round two” and Blaney settling for an “L”. That proved to be the last straw for Ryan Blaney, who issued a warning to Hocevar on X. He reignited his spring Atlanta race feud on DBC: “Then I saw that on the plane, and I was like, ‘Now you’ve kind of p—ed me off a little bit.’ That social media person is going to have to explain when something happens to the 77 car…So I hope that they’re proud of themselves for that…I do still owe him; he wrecked me at first, Atlanta, this year. And I haven’t done anything about it…Now you just re-sparked me.”
Besides looking to settle scores with Carson Hocevar, Ryan Blaney also needs to focus for the 2025 season.
Cleaning up some mess is paramount
Well, the track record of Ryan Blaney crashing out is not exactly clean, even without Carson Hocevar’s influence. During the Quaker State 400, the Penske star had a solid chance to finish well after starting from P3. However, a 23-car pile-up early in stage 2 caught the No. 12 and left it damaged beyond repair. Christopher Bell lost control on lap 58 and spun sideways. The ensuing wreck collected drivers like Bubba Wallace, AJ Allmendinger, and others. But Blaney suffered the most brutal hit as his No. 12 Ford slammed the wall. It marked yet another instance after Phoenix, Homestead, Las Vegas, Talladega, and Charlotte that Blaney unintentionally wrecked out.
Ryan Blaney lamented after his 6th DNF of the season: “The story of our year. Just getting caught up in other people’s garbage. Just when we get it going pretty good and find some momentum, we don’t seem to have things go our way.” In 2024, Blaney had recorded 7 DNFs, and he is just one crash away from reaching that number this season. He is so used to things going haywire, Blaney commented after his Nashville win: “Everything went smoothly, went like a normal race should go…It feels like those races for our team are hard to come by, just nothing funky happening. It’s nice it finally went that way tonight. The fastest car won the race and nothing wacky happened.”
Clearly, Ryan Blaney has other issues to fix besides his ongoing beef. Nevertheless, Carson Hocevar can strap his helmet tighter and pray for the best as Blaney seems focused on a comeback.
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