Austin Hill triggered a multi-car pile-up with nine laps to go in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen.
Vying for a podium place with nine laps to go, Hill tried to go around the outside of Kaulig Racing ring-in Michael McDowell at the Outer Loop.
Hill used almost every inch of asphalt and got to McDowell’s left rear quarter-panel before hooking the #11 Chevrolet Camaro into a spin.
McDowell hit the Armco barrier on his left before bouncing to the wall on his right. His car spun violently back onto the racing line before hitting the left wall again.
The carnage unravelled behind him as William Sawalichin in the #18 Toyota Camry and the #54 of Taylor Gray came together. Several cars managed to sneak through the mayhem, but the chaos continued.
Among the cars that suffered damage in the crash were Jesse Love, Preston Pardus, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Kaz Grala, Dean Thompson, Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Nick Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Ryan Ellis, and Josh Bilicki.
BIG crash with Michael McDowell getting the worst of it. pic.twitter.com/Qbd0Krqu8o
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) August 9, 2025
McDowell was left incensed by Hill’s move, radioing: “What the heck is that guy doing? Why would he do that? I mean, he hooked me.”
The race ground to a halt as officials threw the red flag to clean up the mess and repair the barriers.
After being released from the infield medical centre, McDowell explained the incident from his point of view.
“I don’t want to say anything dumb,” said McDowell.
“I felt like I got two good restarts there and was able to take the lead clean.
“I didn’t rough up the #21 at all, I didn’t feel like, but it just felt like he kept trying to move me in the Carousel – and then there I could see he was never going to get alongside me there.
“I was all the way out. He wasn’t even alongside, just turned me. That’s unfortunate for everyone at Kaulig Racing. We were trying to get a trophy there and had a couple of shots at it.”
Another angle of @WilliamSawalich‘s 18 car getting hit by a tire from Michael McDowell’s 11 car during the wreck. pic.twitter.com/twuGwrBiuK
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) August 9, 2025
Under the stoppage, Hill spoke with commentators via his radio.
“The #11 had been struggling a little bit in front of me for a few laps through the Carousel across the middle and the exit and I thought if I got a big enough run I might get to his left side and kind of get positioning and get to his left entering [Turn] 10,” said Hill.
“Obviously I haven’t seen the replays but I don’t know if I just wasn’t far enough up alongside him. I know the grass was coming up. We were running out of real estate there.
“In hindsight, I probably should have just lifted and got back in line and lived to fight another corner. I hate it for everyone involved, that’s definitely not what I wanted to happen coming back from what we had going on.”
The race eventually resumed after 45 minutes with JR Motorsports Connor Zilisch in the #88 Camaro at the head of the field.