Richard Childress Racing star Austin Hill crashed out of the Eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Lap 47 after Shane van Gisbergen hit the rear bumper of the No. 33 Chevrolet. Hill spoke with the media after the race and expressed his feelings about SVG wrecking him.
Austin Hill was responsible for wrecking SVG and Connor Zilisch at the San Diego street race in June during a restart. Hill was running P28 when he tried blocking the air on SVG’s Chevrolet going into Turn 3 on Lap 47. Shane van Gisbergen hit the rear of the No. 33 Chevrolet, which sent Hill spinning into the barrier and caused race-ending damage.
When questioned about the incident by the media after the wreck, Austin Hill said,
“I’m sure y’all seen the replay, so if I have to explain it, people probably need to get glasses.”
When questioned if the wreck was payback for the San Diego incident, Hill replied,
“I have no idea.”
“Possibly, if there’s definitive evidence, so I’m gonna leave it in NASCAR’s hands,” said Hill when asked if NASCAR should penalize Shane van Gisbergen
“I went into the corner normally. Everyone blocks everyone’s air, right? That’s the way these Cup car are. I was just going to black his air and from my standpoint, it just looked like he sped up, so who knows,” added Hill
Austin Hill took to the team radio after the crash and said,
“We’re probably done. It’s killed.”
“Van Guggenheimer or however you say his name,” said Hill’s spotter
“It’s payback from California,” responded Richard Childress on the team radio
Hill retaliated against Shane van Gisbergen during the caution as he went up next to the No. 97 Chevrolet and hit its left side.
“Big picture, Austin. Big picture, please,” said Hill’s crew chief on the radio
“The, uh, fellow hit my left front,” was SVG’s response to Hill hitting him under caution
Shane van Gisbergen claims that the Austin Hill incident at Chicagoland wasn’t intentional
Shane van Gisbergen had a heartbreaking race at San Diego when Hill crashed him out of the race, where the No. 97 was the favorite to win the race. Speaking with the media at Sonoma, SVG detailed that it took him a couple of days to get over the heartbreak and reset.
Speaking with the media after the Chicagoland race, when asked about the incident with Austin Hill, SVG said
“I was shooting for the bottom trying to get clean air, I was so tight, and he just chopped my nose and got in the wall. So, sorry about that. Sorry to his guys, they’re always nice people, and it happens.”
When asked if the contact was intentional, he replied
“No,”
“I’ll talk to him, but he just grunts,” added SVG when questioned if he’ll speak to Hill.
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Shane van Gisbergen finished the Eero 400 in P25, whereas Austin Hill had to retire the car as the damage was unfixable.
