Making his return from a one-race suspension, Austin Hill found himself involved in another controversial wreck. Racing against Michael McDowell for P2 in Stage 3 of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International, Hill got to the inside of his left quarter panel. The two cars made contact, and McDowell slammed into the […]
Making his return from a one-race suspension, Austin Hill found himself involved in another controversial wreck. Racing against Michael McDowell for P2 in Stage 3 of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International, Hill got to the inside of his left quarter panel.
The two cars made contact, and McDowell slammed into the wall. Soon after, dirt was in the air and multiple cars came piling into the area. In total, 16 cars were involved in the wreck, which brought out the red flag. No, this wasn’t a right rear hook like we saw at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Still, “it doesn’t look good,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the “Dale Jr. Download.”
“It wasn’t a right hook, this is not the same that happened at Indy — even though he says he didn’t do it intentionally at Indy, I don’t buy it. But this was racing. Is it avoidable? Yes, ” Earnhardt said. “But is Austin Hill that kind of driver that’s going to give up that opportunity? In his mind, he’s going to get to Turn 6 on the inside. … If there’s anything to say about Austin Hill, it’s this: do we buy that Indy was unintentional? I don’t know that he can even admit after all this that it was, and I don’t know if he should admit or ever will. I’m not all that surprised that he didn’t fess up to it this week. He’s going to toe the line and stick with his story.
“But coming off a one-race suspension, this doesn’t look good. It doesn’t look good. But Austin Hill is the kind of the guy that I don’t believe he gives a shit and he’s not gonna back down, not gonna cut the break. The thing that’s tough about this is all the cars that got involved. … This isn’t a right hook, this isn’t Austin Hill should be parked, deserves another suspension. This is, though, Austin, can you take it easy? Hey Austin, let’s not do something every race.”
Elton Sawyer reveals likelihood of Austin Hill penalty after incident with Michael McDowell at Watkins Glen
Hill finished fourth at Watkins Glen. McDowell, making his first Xfinity start since 2016, finished 25th. Hill was adamant after the race that he didn’t wreck McDowell on purpose.
“Just two guys going for it. Nothing malicious, as much as everybody wants to sit there and try to make it more than it is. It was just two guys racing it out,” Hill said. “I was trying to get by the 88 [Connor Zilisch] as quick as I could because the 88 was driving away from us and thought that we could maybe have a shot at racing with him and racing for the win there. Had a massive run off the Carousel. I kind of thought I was trying to catch [McDowell] off guard and get to his left side.
“The grass was coming up in front of us. I had to get to the right. I was kind of hoping he was going to move to the right and kind of give me some room, and it just didn’t happen.”
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR‘s senior vice president of competition, said Tuesday they “don’t see anything at this time” to suggest that Hill will be penalized. Sawyer viewed it as a racing incident, though he acknowledged that some drivers made “some bad decisions” over the weekend.
Category: General Sports
