Ryan Blaney Still Showing Black Eye From Bristol Brawl: ‘Wish it Healed Quicker’

Nearly one week after a chaotic post-race brawl with Carson Hocevar at Bristol, Ryan Blaney showed up to the Kansas Speedway with a battle wound. After taking two punches to the face by the driver of the No. 77, Blaney still has a visible bruise around his left eye from the incident.

Despite the black eye, Blaney is ready to race in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. After suffering a 33rd-place finish last Saturday at Bristol, the driver of the No. 12 ranks sixth in the points standings, 52 points behind leader Kyle Larson.

Ryan Blaney talks black eye: ‘Wish it healed a little bit quicker’

During media availability on Friday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, Blaney was asked how his eye was holding up. The North Carolina native said he feels well but was hoping the bruising would have gone away by now.

“It’s fine. I know, I wish it healed a little bit quicker than this but it did not,” Blaney said.

Blaney got his side of the story of the Bristol brawl out of the way before coming to Kansas when he appeared on Denny Hamlin’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast.

During the show, the Team Penske star said the situation was a 50/50 deal, believing that he and Hocevar could have done something different when racing for second place with 43 laps to go. On Friday at Kansas, Blaney doubled down on his stance.

“Pretty 50/50, I thought. Just kind of a racing thing of Bristol with two guys being aggressive with the line they wanted to be in,” Blaney said.

Hocevar went on to score a third-place finish after the late contact with Blaney. Unfortunately for Blaney, the Bristol crash marked his second DNF in a row after his race ended prematurely the week prior at World Wide Technology Raceway following a brake failure.

Ryan Blaney seeking rebound at Kansas Speedway

With seven races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase, Ryan Blaney is in need of a strong run in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. The 2023 Cup Series champion started the Chase second in the standings but misfortunes in the last two races have dropped him to sixth.

Kansas Speedway has been an up and down track for Blaney. The 20-time Cup winner has never won at Kansas and has finished 24th in the last two races at the track. The two Kansas races prior to that, however, Blaney finished top five.

Blaney has shown moderate speed on the 1.5-mile tracks this season with seventh-place finishes at Charlotte and Chicagoland. With three straight 1.5-mile tracks coming up, it will be interesting to see if Blaney can contend with the Toyotas, who have been largely dominant on the 1.5-mile tracks in 2026.

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