Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill was having a pretty decent season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series until the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He chose wrong when he decided to crash into Aric Almirola on purpose, and the decision has now resulted in him being suspended for the race at Iowa Speedway. By coincidence or not, Iowa Speedway has previously played a role in his career.
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In 2019, Hill was on the receiving end when Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter crashed into him on purpose during the M&M’s 200 at the track. It led to Sauter being suspended for a race, but the penalty wasn’t too harsh as it did not extend to impact his postseason eligibility. Moreover, Hill hadn’t been completely clean in the sequence either.
Sauter’s flare-up had been caused by an intentional bump that Hill had delivered. Officials had considered punishing the latter for doing so, but ultimately chose against it and clarified that they would be watching him closely for on-track violations from then on. Years later, he has now been caught.
How the turn tables: In 2019 at Iowa, Johnny Sauter got parked one race by NASCAR after retaliating against Austin Hill by intentionally wrecking him under caution.
Now, Austin Hill has been parked one race for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola and will miss…Iowa. pic.twitter.com/lRpMOeQLi5
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) July 29, 2025
It all began when Almirola got Hill loose in a corner during the race. While Hill was able to save his car, he turned his steering into Almirola in frustration. He was penalized five laps for this action and was threatened with further action.
Finally, NASCAR decided to suspend Hill for a race in light of his unedifying messages to the promotion on his team radio. His suspension will come along with a loss of all the playoff points he has accumulated thus far.
It is not yet clear if NASCAR will grant him a playoff waiver. If Hill gets a waiver, he will start the 12-driver contest from last place. He will still have the chance to become champion, but the playoff points he secured through winning three races in the regular season and the buffer that they would have provided won’t exist. That will be one tough hill to climb.
Hill’s suspension is the first time that a driver has lost his playoff points due to an on-track disciplinary action. With three wins and nine top-five finishes, he was well on his way to having a strong postseason. But now, he faces a situation in which he is at the mercy of the sanctioning body. He has become a prime example to showcase the repercussions that a momentary lapse in focus can have.
