Austin Hill returns from NASCAR suspension, says crash was a “racing incident”

Austin Hill is back at the track this weekend after NASCAR suspended him for one race following his involvement in a scary incident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After Aric Almirola pushed him out of the way, Hill appeared to intentionally turn to the left and hook Almirola hard into the outside wall.

While Hill continues to assert that the contact was unintentional, it doesn’t change the fact that NASCAR decided to suspend him, forcing the Richard Childress Racing driver to miss the Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway. And while he has been granted a playoff waiver, the suspension means that Hill has lost all 21 playoff bonus points in a major hit to his title shot.

Hill pleads innocence, won’t change the way he drives

Before the green flag at Watkins Glen, Hill took a moment to speak with The CW about the incident and his mindset going forward.

“I’ll probably get backlash for it, but absolutely not,” said Hill, when asked if he will change the way he races his fellow competitors. “I’m gonna still race the way I always do. I’m a hard-nosed racer. It was fully unintentional. It’s easy for me saying that right now with it being two weeks out, but I’m an extremely honest person.”

Hill mentioned a previous case of reckless driving where he was penalized, citing the Charlotte 2024 incident with Cole Custer. Hill was fined $25,000 and docked 25 points. “The main reason I got that penalty (with Custer) is because I told Wayne Auton (NASCAR Xfinity Series director) exactly what happened and that I would take any penalty that came my way and hold it on my shoulders. And that’s because I knew I was in the wrong in that instance, but this instance was a totally different deal.”

Regretting the radio outburst

However, there is something Hill regrets about the situation at Indianapolis. On the radio, he hurled expletives at NASCAR after he was held for five laps during the race.

“Really, the only thing I wish I could take back are the things I said on the radio,” admitted Hill. “Other than that, the things that happened on the race track was fully unintentional. It was a racing incident, but the good thing about it today is that we have a really fast Chevrolet and we’re going to go out there and show everybody how it’s done.”