I am sick and tired of hearing about the 1979 Daytona 500 fight as if it gave every oval-track racer permission to act like a thug. Yes, the brawl between Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison drew national attention to NASCAR. People, this isn’t a good thing!
Somewhere along the way, a whole generation—like Hocevar and Blaney at Bristol this past Sunday—decided that wrecking another driver, climbing out of the car and throwing punches is somehow part of the show. It isn’t. That is not racing.
Settling it with your fists after the chequered flag is what happens when the driving talent runs out.
What’s worse, the crowd rewards it! The wreck matters more than the race and the fight matters more than the finish. American motorsport deserves better than this.
Completely agree with you!
What’s truly disturbing is those in the motoring press support this hooliganism. For example, Kelly Crandall wrote an article about this on RACER.com and below are the opening lines.
‘Hell Yeah’ NASCAR is back
NASCAR came into 2026 with a new championship format, winds shifting towards leadership changes, and a new “Hell Yeah” marketing campaign meant to point back to the sport’s roots and attitude.
It wasn’t until Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway that the latter truly came to fruition.
https://racer.com/2026/09/21/hell-yeah-nascar-is-back