No. 33 Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill instigated the massive wreck on Lap 32 during Anduril 250 at Coronado Naval Base on Sunday. Trackhouse Racing drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch were involved in the wreck and retired from the race.
Hill spoke with motorsport reporter Bob Pockrass after the wreck as he took the blame for the wreck
“Looking back on it, I probably didn’t clean my tires up the greatest. The brake spikes are very sensitive in these Cup cars, and when I hit the brake pedal, it kind of set the front end and kind of got the rear out of the track, and that’s where it all started when I made my turn in. I just kind of missed my turn a little bit,” Austin Hill said.
“Man, if I could have just been a little bit more ahead of the No.88, I could have cleared him on exit. But yeah, that one’s on me. Um, just learn from it going forward, and this track is treacherous. Um, and it will come out and bite you in a hurry. Thank you,” he added.
Brent Crews replaced Christopher Bell in the No.20 Toyota ten laps into the race. However, soon after the start of Stage 2, the No.20 Toyota’s powertrain gave up, bringing out a caution. It was during the restart after this caution that the massive pile-up happened.
As the race restarted on Lap 32, Austin Hill and Connor Zilisch were on the front row with Shane van Gisbergen right behind them. SVG thought about making a move on the restart, going three wide, but thought otherwise and backed out.
Going into Turn 1, Hill missed his turn in, went a little wide, and bashed the No.88 Chevrolet on his outside. Zilisch hit the barrier, which began a chain reaction of wrecks, including his teammate Shane van Gisbergen.
Austin Hill apologizes to Connor Zilisch and Trackhouse Racing for the wreck at Anduril 250
Austin Hill detailed how he tried his best to stay away from making contact with Connor Zilisch on the restart, but the rear end of the No.33 RCR Chevrolet slid, and he wasn’t able to stay off the No.88 Chevrolet. Hill apologized to Zilisch and Trackhouse Racing as he said,
“I guess I just carried a little bit too much entry pace than what I’ve been doing all day. Just uh right when I touched him and he got in the wall, it kind of sucked me into him. I just couldn’t stay off of him,”
“We could have had a really strong day for everybody at RCR. But yeah, apologize to those guys on the No.88 team & we’ll go again next week in Sonoma,” he added
Corey Heim won the Anduril 250 as he took his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in only his 13th start in the series. Heim will replace Riley Herbst at 23XI in the No.35 Toyota star
