Austin Hill Scrutinized For Incident With Aric Almirola; NASCAR Suspension Incoming?

It’ll be a nerve-racking few days for Austin Hill, who will await to see if he will see further sanctions from NASCAR than the five laps he was held for rough driving following an incident with Aric Almirola with 10 laps remaining in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250. A race that was ultimately won by Connor Zilisch.

As the two drivers were engaged in a hard-fought battle for the fourth position, Almirola got Hill loose, which sent Hill sideways in Turn 3. As Almirola edged past Hill for the position, Hill corrected his car, but then took a sharp left swipe into the right rear of Almirola’s car.

This maneuver sent Almirola hooking hard into the outside wall in Turn 4. Almirola would go head-on into an area of the turn where there was not a SAFER Barrier, which would cause significant damage to his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Yeah, that’s probably gonna be a forced vacation for Austin Hill. Pretty egregious looking, and at a track like Indy, that’s a very dangerous move. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0dXYuVbHYE

— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) July 26, 2025

Fortunately, Almirola was able to walk away, but the driver says the impact was one of the hardest of his racing career.

And Almirola was frustrated because he felt the impact was due to an intentional swipe at his right rear corner.

"It was definitely intentional."@Aric_Almirola talks about the incident with @_AustinHill. pic.twitter.com/dvurrFm3SW

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) July 26, 2025

“Oh, it was definitely intentional,” Almirola said of the right rear hook. “He blocked me three times. Finally got him loose into [Turn] 3, he had damage on the nose, so he was really slow in the corners. And so, it was time to go. We’re coming to nine laps to go, and the leaders are starting to put a gap on us. So, it’s time to go. And I got him loose, and yeah, he just turned left and hit me in the right rear. Honestly, one of the biggest hits I’ve had in my NASCAR career. Very reminiscent of the hit I took when I broke my bag. So, glad I’m okay.”

Adding to the frustration was the fact that the incident came at the hands of Hill, who Almirola remembered standing up in a meeting earlier this year, vowing to show young racers how to race cleanly after an embarrassing race at Martinsville Speedway.

“It’s just unfortunate that guys like that, especially that guy. He stood up in front of a meeting at Martinsville and said he was going to be a role model for all of the young kids to look up to and racing etiquette, and that’s kind of laughable after that one,” Almirola scoffed.

While Hill would not speak to the media about the incident after the event, which was likely a very smart move on his part, his team owner, Richard Childress, was asked about the crash and whether or not he felt that Hill deserved to be suspended for right rear hooking Almirola into the wall.

Here is what Richard Childress said after the race about #NASCAR penalizing Austin Hill 5 laps for reckless driving for incident with Aric Almirola in the Xfinity race at Indy. pic.twitter.com/vJfiU1DXaZ

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) July 26, 2025

“Hell no,” Childress sharply responded when asked about a potential suspension for Hill. “They didn’t do a damn thing to [Austin Cindric] when he wrecked Ty [Dillon] and admitted to it. Drove into him in the right rear and wrecked him at COTA. It’s who you are. We’re a blue-collar team, [NASCAR] give[s] us trouble all the time.”

While Childress doesn’t believe Hill deserves a suspension based on the precedent set by NASCAR at Circuit of the Americas, NASCAR explained following COTA that a suspension was on the table for Cindric and that the sanctioning body chose to withhold that penalty due to the lower speeds at COTA. Conversely, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a high-speed 2.5-mile track. So, the decision for NASCAR will be an interesting one to follow next week as the penalty report is released.

For Hill, if he is suspended due to the incident, it would mean a lot more than missing a race or two as NASCAR adjusted to rules for Playoff Waivers this past offseason. A suspension for an on-track incident would mean that the driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet would have to forfeit all of the Playoff Points he has earned so far this season (21 points) as well as any he earned along the way for the remainder of the 2025 season. Sure, he’d be Playoff eligible, but his road to a championship would be much more difficult.