NASCAR Suspends Austin Hill for Incident at Indianapolis
NASCAR has penalized Austin Hill with a one-race suspension in the Xfinity Series due to an intentional crash with Aric Almirola at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Richard Childress Racing has confirmed that Cup driver Austin Dillon will replace Hill in this weekend’s Xfinity Series race in Iowa.
The suspension also implies the loss of the 21 playoff points that Hill had accumulated in 2025, and prevents him from adding more points before the playoffs, according to a new rule implemented before the start of the 2025 season. Hill must request an exemption to maintain his playoff eligibility.
Before the suspension, Hill was in a prominent position in the playoff standings, surpassed only by Connor Zilisch (29 points) and Justin Allgaier (22). However, now his score resets to zero, reducing his margin for error in the first round of the playoffs.
Hill, with three victories, currently holds the seventh position in the Xfinity Series standings. He is likely to lose positions due to the suspension, and only the drivers within the top twelve places advance to the playoffs.
Hill argued that the contact with Almirola on Saturday was not intentional, but NASCAR imposed a five-lap penalty on him. After being informed about the penalty, Hill expressed his frustration with strong language.
The incident occurred when both drivers were in the top five at Indy. Almirola touched Hill, causing the latter to correct his vehicle and then turn left, impacting the right rear of Almirola’s car.
Almirola spun and crashed into the outside wall. Hill finished in 34th position, five laps down, while Almirola finished in 35th place.
