Ryan Blaney warns he has payback pending for Carson Hocevar after Spire’s post-Atlanta move ‘pissed’ him off

Ryan Blaney admitted to getting pissed off at Spire Motorsports' X post mocking his loss to Carson Hocevar in the In-Season Challenge at Echopark Speedway. The Team Penske driver implied that it would be the team's 'fault' if their online jab has consequences on track.

Blaney began the Quaker State 400 from the second row (in third), while Hocevar started further back at 30th, but as fate would have it, the #12 driver faced an early exit after getting collected in a Stage 2 wreck. Hocevar managed to steer clear of the mess and rounded out the top 10, making him eligible for a spot in Round 2 of the Challenge.

Spire Motorsports took a playful swipe at Blaney's loss with the meme on X, writing,

"Thanks for accepting our trade, @Blaney."

Blaney responded to the tweet with a pointed reminder of his past run-in with Hocevar at Atlanta, suggesting that payback is still on the cards.

"Still owe y’all for this one. Thanks for reminding me," he replied.

On Monday, June 30, Ryan Blaney went on The Door Bumper Podcast and explained his response to Spire.

"I saw that and I was, you know, I wasn't really in a mood I was like, 'eh it's speedway racing whatever'. And then I saw that on the plane, I was like, 'well, now you've kind of pissed me off a little bit'. That social media person is gonna have to explain when something happens to the 77 car that it was their fault. So I hope they're proud of themselves for that," he said. (0:24 onwards)

Ryan Blaney entered the In-Season Challenge as the seventh-seeded driver, mostly due to his third-place finish at Pocono Raceway. His DNF in Atlanta marks his sixth of the season after 18 starts.

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Ryan Blaney revealed his private conversation with Carson Hocevar after Atlanta fallout

During the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ryan Blaney was spun out by Carson Hocevar when entering a corner. The former Cup Series champion managed to recover from the incident but lost out on a potential win after starting from pole.

The 31-year-old confronted Hocevar post-race and was seen having a heated discussion. When asked about the same, he replied (via X/Kelly Crandall)

"Yeah, I mean I just said, 'Hey you got to calm down' I mean I told him a couple of moves that he made earlier in the race that were really, really sketchy, obviously, me getting spun. He should know better than to hit me in that spot." (0:07 onwards)

Much like Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch had a bone to pick with the #77 driver after getting tagged by him during Stage 1 of the same event. Hocevar, meanwhile, secured his season-best result at second.

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Edited by Anisha Chatterjee