INDIANAPOLIS — NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill is facing a possible suspension by NASCAR after contact between Hill and Aric Almirola caused Almirola to crash during Saturday’s Xfinity race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — contact officials determined was “reckless driving” by Hill and penalized him by parking him for five laps.

The incident occurred during the closing laps when Almirola and Hill were racing for position inside the top 10 when Almirola got into Hill’s rear bumper, causing him to slide up the track. Hill’s car then turned left, hitting Almirola’s car in the right-rear and causing him to crash head-on into the outside wall.

Neither driver was injured, but Almirola described it as “one of the hardest hits I’ve taken in my NASCAR career.” The Joe Gibbs Racing driver viewed Hill’s actions as intentional.

“I didn’t feel what he did was necessary. I felt like he could have easily fell back in line. He was damaged anyway. We were losing time to the leaders. It wasn’t like we were on pace with them. He was holding me up clearly.

“It’s just unfortunate. He obviously lost his mind right there. That was really bad judgment in my opinion.”

The yellow flag is out at @IMS following this incident involving multiple cars.@Aric_Almirola exited the No. 19 under his own power. pic.twitter.com/tOaYGsLFJw

— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 26, 2025

Immediately afterward, Hill said over his team’s radio that he did not intentionally try to hook Almirola in the right-rear, an action NASCAR has both heavily penalized and suspended drivers for in the past.

“I couldn’t hang onto it; I was not trying to right-rear him,” Hill told his Richard Childress Racing team.

NASCAR disagreed and issued Hill a five-lap penalty for “reckless driving.” After learning of the penalty, Hill further defended himself.

“(NASCAR) can go f— themselves. F— NASCAR. That is f—ing bull—-,” he said over the radio.

Hill declined to comment to reporters after the race.

Because of the safety risks, intentionally hooking a competitor in the right-rear to cause them to crash is considered egregious (and dangerous) by the majority of drivers — especially on a high-speed oval like Indianapolis. Bubba Wallace (in 2022) and Chase Elliott (in 2023) were suspended one race for right-hooking another driver on a high-speed oval.

Recently, there have also been similar incidents where NASCAR did not suspend a driver even though they right-hooked a competitor.

Last year, NASCAR heavily penalized RCR driver Austin Dillon, Childress’ grandson, after officials ruled he deliberately crashed both Joey Logano and right-hooked Denny Hamlin on the final lap of a Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway as the trio raced for the win. Although Dillon was allowed to keep the win, he was stripped of the playoff eligibility he otherwise would’ve earned. He was also docked 25 driver points.

This past spring, NASCAR penalized Austin Cindric 50 points and fined him $50,000 after officials ruled he intentionally right-hooked Ty Dillon (another Childress grandson) during a Cup race at Circuit of the Americas, a road course as opposed to an oval like Indianapolis or Richmond.

The latter incident involving Cindric and Ty Dillon was top of mind for Childress following Saturday’s race. When asked by The Athletic whether Hill should be suspended, Childress directly referenced what transpired at COTA and how NASCAR responded.

“Hell, no. They didn’t do a damn thing to (Cindric) when he wrecked Ty (Dillon) and admitted to it — drove him in the right rear and wrecked him at COTA,” Childress said. “It’s who you are. We’re a blue-collar team; (NASCAR) gives us trouble all the time.”

NASCAR said the five-lap penalty did not close the book on any potential future penalties handed to Hill for intentionally wrecking Almirola and will review the incident during its post-race debrief. Any potential penalties would likely be announced mid-week.

Rookie Connor Zilisch won the Xfinity race, his series-best fifth victory on the season.

(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)