Austin Hill saw his effort in Sunday evening’s eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway come to an early end, as he backed hard into the outside wall in Turn 3 on Lap 48.
Shane van Gisbergen, a driver who grew frustrated with Hill over the last few weeks on the road courses, was the driver who laid the front bumper to Hill to send him crashing out of the race.
These two have history. pic.twitter.com/v67sRrJRxy
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2026
After being checked and released from the infield care center, Hill hinted that the contact from van Gisbergen was intentional.
“I’m sure y’all have seen the replay, so if I have to explain it, people probably have to get glasses,” Hill fired back when asked what happened in the incident between himself and SVG.
When asked if he thought the contact was retaliation for the crash with van Gisbergen at the San Diego Street Course a few weeks ago, Hill said, “I have no idea.”
When pressed on whether van Gisbergen should suffer a penalty, suspension, or otherwise from NASCAR for the crash, Hill said, “Possibly, if there’s definitive evidence, so I’m going to leave it in NASCAR’s hands.”
While Hill was heated following the crash, as anyone likely would have been, van Gisbergen had a completely different story about what happened following a 25th-place finish on Sunday.
“I was shooting for the bottom, trying to get clean air. I was so tight, and he just cut my nose and got into the wall. So, I’m sorry about that,” van Gisbergen said. “Sorry to his guys, they’re always good people. It happens.”
When asked if the incident was intentional, van Gisbergen scoffed, “No.”
Before walking back to the garage area, van Gisbergen was asked if he would have a discussion with Hill about the Lap 48 crash. Based on the response, which contained an insult, I’m not sure how productive that talk is going to be.
“I’ll talk to him, but he just grunts,” van Gisbergen said.
Any penalty levied by NASCAR on van Gisbergen would be extremely hurtful for van Gisbergen’s championship hopes. With seven races remaining until the beginning of the Chase for the Championship, van Gisbergen sits 14th in the 16-driver Chase Grid, and he stands only 30 points ahead of Ryan Preece, the first driver on the outside looking in.
A point penalty or even a suspension for an intentional crash could prove rather costly for the New Zealander. However, in order for there to be a penalty, NASCAR will have to prove guilt, and so far, SVG has said all of the right things following the crash.
The brewing rivalry between Hill and van Gisbergen actually extends prior to this season, as the two had a few on-track pissing matches in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series prior to van Gisbergen moving to the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2025.
