It is not even two races into 2025, and Carson Hocevar has become the villain. The 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year showcased his penchant for wrecking rivals in his first Cup season. He brushed up against legendary drivers like Jimmie Johnson, and also deliberately wrecked out Harrison Burton in Nashville. You would think that hefty penalty would teach Hocevar a lesson – but that is only an illusion, as he left Ryan Blaney frustrated at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Ryan Blaney receives the Hocevar treatment

Well, the Ambetter Health 400 has been a thumping glory ride for the Fords. Josh Berry and Austin Cindric dominated the front row for a major chunk of the race, and Ryan Blaney trailed not far behind. However, chaos descended on the No. 12 Team Penske Ford on lap 234. Blaney’s car spun around off of Turn 1 in a wild smoking mess, and Blaney’s efforts to stop it proved futile. When the broadcasters did a slow-motion recap of the incident, you could distinctly see the culprit.

It appeared that the No. 77 Chevrolet of Carson Hocevar lightly bumped into the No. 12, making Ryan Blaney lose balance at the 1.54-mile racetrack. The sentiment could be felt rising against the 22-year-old speedster. Tim Fedewa, the spotter for the No. 12, let loose his hopelessness: “I don’t know what we can do about it. We got to race.” However, the 2023 Cup Series champion did not mince his words, as Jonathan Fjeld updated: “I told you, 77. Absolute weapon. He’s just a moron. He just runs right in the back of you. He has zero idea of where to bump someone, it’s been the whole race.”

Indeed, Ryan Blaney is not exaggerating in the last statement. Shortly before during the same race, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch let loose a barrage of warnings at Carson Hocevar. “Go tell that 77 he’s done that same f—— move ten times. I don’t care if I wreck the whole f—— field, I’m over him. He’s a f—— douchebag, I’m going to wreck his a–.” Hocevar then proceeded to tick off even Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson towards the end of the race. He got ahead of Larson on the final lap as Christopher Bell took the checkered flag.

Yet this is hardly the first time Hocevar got on Ryan Blaney’s nerves. The Team Penske star had doubts about him even before they made contact.

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Blaney was wary of Hocevar from the start

Carson Hocevar drummed up a wreck fest reputation since his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series days. After all, who can forget the infamous Truck championship race at Phoenix in November 2023? After Corey Heim passed him, Hocevar deliberately spun him out on lap 12o – those actions landed him a $12,500 fine and a 25-point redux. Similarly, during the Nashville Cup race in 2024, Hocevar took his revenge on Harrison Burton when a green flag was waved, slamming against his car until it spun out. That landed the then-Spire rookie a hefty $50,000 penalty.

These actions evoked a disapproving sentiment in the entire Cup Series garage. Ryan Blaney himself was outraged last year in July: “That’s not cool. Don’t do that.” He continued that NASCAR’s penal actions were right: “I think NASCAR did the right thing of penalizing because you have to slap people. There has to be repercussions for what you do when it’s something like that. And like I said, that’s something I’ve seen reoccurring with him that hopefully he learns from it, and hopefully when there’s a little bit of hole in his pocket after the money he had to pay, it teaches you a lesson of don’t do that anymore.”

However, in just the second race of the new season, Carson Hocevar has done it again, catching Ryan Blaney in the middle of it. Blaney thus became one of the drivers with a score to settle with Hocevar. Do you think Hocevar has gone too far with his driving? Let us know in the comments below!