Kevin Harvick Urges Ryan Blaney to be “Thick Skinned” While Facing Backlash Over Carson Hocevar Fight

The NASCAR Cup Series last Sunday witnessed one of the most uncharacteristic moments of Ryan Blaney’s racing career, as he had a fist fight with Spire Motorsport youngster Carson Hocevar after getting wrecked on stage three of the Bristol night race. The incident might’ve changed the perception the whole racing community has about the Team Penske veteran.

2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick talked about the factor in the latest episode of his Happy Hour podcast, and warned the 2023 champion about backlash to his actions. He urged the veteran to be learn how to be thick-skinned and become more mentally strong, as he is going to become the prime targets of the hecklers.

You can’t. No, I mean, you can put it behind you, but you’re not going to the racetrack, not answering questions. You better learn how to be pretty thick-skinned and mentally strong because you are gonna get heckled like you have never been heckled before.

Kevin Harvick said on his podcast.

One of the key points the fans are going to target Ryan Blaney with, according to Kevin Harvick, is the fact that Carson Hocevar landed two pretty good punch on the Ford driver, while the other couldn’t give a good one back and even ended up on the ground. He is going to get heckled like he has never been in his whole-time racing.

In Blaney’s case, I mean, all you’re gonna hear about from those fans, ‘How’s it feel to get punched in the face?’ You whiner. You got your *** kicked.’ And that’s all he’s gonna hear. Have you seen Hocevar lately?’ I mean, it’s gonna be constant, and it’s gonna be something that Ryan Blaney has never dealt with in his whole career.

Kevin Harvick added via Happy Hour podcast.

Kevin Harvick calls Ryan Preece and Josh Berry’s Carson Hocevar moment pointless

One ley moment from last week after the Carson Hocevar fight was the spat involving the Spire driver and the Ryan Preece-Josh Berry duo. They publicly called out the youngster while he was hyping the crowd post-fight and Kevin Harvick got an interesting take on it.

And to show you how much Hocevar is in everybody’s heads, you can look at Ryan Preece and Josh Berry over there chirping at him on the wall. That stuff isn’t gonna move the needle.

Kevin Harvick said.

The moment showed how much the majority of the racers in the garage is furious with the No:77 Chevy driver. Harvick told the duo that they needed to wreck the racer to get his respect or attention, making all the talks they have been involved so far pointless.

Like, you can chirp all you want, and you can point fingers and talk. If you want that guy’s respect, you’re going to have to wreck him. And he’s gonna be good with it when you wreck him.

Kevin Harvick added.

The comments from the champion driver about the dramatic last weekend seems to on point and the veteran drivers needs to take notes on how to face the challenges posed by the youngster. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout in the Hocevar vs everyone else battle.

Also Read: Bubba Wallace Explains the Message Ryan Blaney Sent with “Entertaining and Surprising” Carson Hocevar Fight