Austin Hill: Indy NASCAR crash was ‘fully unintentional’
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Austin Hill remains unapologetic about a crash that left him suspended and ridden of his playoff points in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Hill missed the Aug. 2 Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after NASCAR believed he intentionally wreck Aric Almirola the week before at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
NASCAR penalized Austin Hill five laps. In response, Hill criticized NASCAR in profanity-laden tirade over the radio.
While NASCAR granted him a waiver to remain eligible for the playoffs after his suspension, Hill had to forfeit the playoff points that had presumptively seeded him third in the playoffs — and any points that could’ve seeded him any better.
Now back at Watkins Glen, Hill is still unapologetic about it all.
“I’ll probably get backlash for it but… I’m gonna still race the way that I always do. I’m a hard nose racer,” Hill told CW Sports before the Watkins Glen race.
Hill still doesn’t believe he did anything wrong at Indy, either.
“It was fully unintentional. It’s easy me saying that right now, with it being two weeks out but I’m an extremely honest person,” Hill said.
Elaborating further, Hill alluded to an incident with Cole Custer at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2024. NASCAR penalized Hill for intentionally wrecking Custer on the backstretch after an incident in turn two.
“The main reason I got that penalty is I told Wayne [Auton, Xfinity race director at the time] exactly what happened. I told him that I would take any penalty that came on my way and hold it on my shoulders because I knew that I was in the wrong in that instance. This instance [Indy] was just a totally different deal,” Hill said.
Hill is still locked into the playoffs despite losing his playoff points. He is locked in and looking forward as just a few races remain until the playoffs begin.
“The things that happened on the racetrack was fully unintentional. It was a racing incident. But the good thing about it, we have a really fast Bennett Chevrolet. We’re going to go out there and show everybody how it’s done,” Hill said at Watkins Glen.
MORE: Austin Hill granted NASCAR playoff waiver
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com