By David Morgan, Associate Editor
As the laps were winding down in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford was a prominent fixture near the front of the field as he had his sights set on bringing home the win.
Until an errant bump from Carson Hocevar turned his night upside down.
Charging into Turn 1 with 29 laps to go, Blaney was running in third in the low lane when Hocevar’s Chevrolet made contact with his rear bumper, sending him for a slide on the apron.
Luckily, Blaney was able to save his skidding car and kept it from sliding back up into traffic, which allowed them to stay in the fight.
Now, @Blaney gets turned … but he keeps his foot in it! pic.twitter.com/zWgQlQdvCI
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 23, 2025
“I told you Timmy, absolute weapon, 77,” Blaney radioed to spotter Tim Fedewa after limping his car to pit road for service.
“He’s just a moron,” Blaney continued. “He just runs right into the back of you. He has zero idea of where to bump somebody, where not to, he’s swiping across my bumper as he’s doing it. He just has no idea the whole race.”
With four fresh Goodyears bolted on his Team Penske machine, Blaney would restart in 25th place with just 22 laps left on the board.
From there, he was a man on a mission.
Blaney climbed back into the top-10 when the final caution in regulation fell with two laps to go, setting himself up to be able to make up some more ground in overtime.
By the time the caution waved on the white flag lap, Blaney had jumped up to fourth place with his sights set on the leaders, but wouldn’t get the chance to make a run at the win with the race being called official at that point.
After climbing from his car, Blaney made it a point to go have a few words with Hocevar regarding their run-in. He wouldn’t be the only driver that lined up to speak their mind to Hocevar, with Ross Chastain also in that list.
“I just said, ‘Hey, you got to calm down. I told him a couple moves he made earlier in the race that were really, really sketchy,” Blaney said of their conversation
“Obviously, me getting spun. He should know better than to hit me in that spot. He can’t just run into my bumper as I’m turning into a corner. I’m going to wreck. So, I just told him you got to calm down. You got a lot of talent, but you got to be a little bit easier in this certain moment. Be smarter.”
Blaney added that he was happy that he was able to save his car after the tag from Hocevar and didn’t wind up back in traffic and out of the race.
“I wasn’t slowing. He was drafting to me and he didn’t lift and just gave me a shot when I’m turning into one and it spun me out,” Blaney said. “I was just happy I didn’t hook a right back into everybody and was able to stay on the apron.
“It was a good comeback,” Blaney continued. “I just fell back from getting spun there and I was able to pick our way through and ended up scrounging a good finish out of it, so not a bad recovery.”
Despite the circumstances, Blaney starts the 2025 season with a top-10 and a top-five finish as the series rolls on to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas next week.
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