Matt Johnson
Austin Hill has earned a reputation in NASCAR for wrecking other drivers, sometimes intentionally, and letting his emotions get the best of him. That appeared to be the case again on Sunday night following his incident with Shane van Gisbergen at Chicagoland Speedway.
Two weeks ago at Naval Base Coronado, Hill accidentally took out van Gisbergen when the No. 33 car missed the bottom after the restart and caused a wreck that delivered race-ending damage to the No. 97. SVG’s revenge seemed to come on Sunday night in the eero 400.
On Sunday night at Chicagoland during Lap 48, Hill came down in front of van Gisbergen’s nose heading into the turn. That’s when the No. 97 plowed into the No. 33, sending the car spinning into the wall for race-ending damage.
On the radio, team owner Richard Childress immediately called the move by SVG intentional and he seemed to want NASCAR to look into the matter. Hill also voiced his frustration, with the No. 33 team pleading with him to focus on the “big picture” and not retaliate.
“”That was on purpose from California.”
Richard Childress on Shane van Gisbergen hitting Austin Hill (H/T Jeff Gluck)
While TNT Sports didn’t capture what came after, HBO Max’s in-car camera for the No. 33 car did. The full clip on YouTube from Steven Taranto shows the in-car cameras of the incidents from both Hill and SVG’s perspective.
However, it seems Hill either didn’t get the message or he simply ignored it. As Hill is being told to keep the “big picture” in mind when he’s back on the track, he finds his chance at payback. With everyone still under caution and the No. 33 driving off pit road to reach the garage, Hill comes up and hits van Gisbergen’s car in the left front.
NASCAR hasn’t exactly been consistent this year when it comes to penalizing drivers for what is widely viewed as intentionally wrecking another. Ryan Preece received a 25-point penalty and $50,000 fine for seeming to hit Ty Gibbs intentionally at Texas Motor Speedway in early May, but NASCAR had Preece’s radio feed that indicated it was premeditated.
Richard Childress Racing will certainly be pushing NASCAR to penalize van Gisbergen, either with a fine or docking him points, for what the team believes was an intentional wreck of Hill.
A points penalty seems unlikely, given that van Gisbergen never indicated on the radio it was intentional and he didn’t right-hook the No. 33. It also might be worth seeing if Trackhouse Racing uses Hill’s in-car camera feed as evidence that he intentionally made contact with the No. 97 under caution, which there is a precdent for.
It’s worth keeping in mind heading into the week ahead of NASCAR’s review, especially since Childress was very unhappy that Hill was suspended a race last year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola.
