JOLIET, Ill. — Austin Hill could only shrug his shoulders after contact from Shane van Gisbergen sidelined him early in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
“I’m sure y’all have seen the replay,” Hill said, “so if I have to explain it, people probably need to get glasses.”
Questions about corrective lenses aside, his Richard Childress Racing team had the view that the consequential bump that knocked Hill from Sunday’s eero 400 was intentional, causing terminal damage to his No. 33 Chevrolet after hard rear-end contact with the outside retaining wall.
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Hill was out after completing 47 of a scheduled 267 laps, saddled with his second DNF in three weeks. Before heading to pit road and eventually the garage, Hill showed his displeasure by sideswiping van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet under caution.
“I was entering the corner normal,” Hill said. “Everyone blocks everybody’s air off, right? That’s the way these Cup cars are. I was just going down to block his air off, and from my standpoint, it just looked like he sped up. So, who knows?”
Childress, the NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner, said through the No. 33 radio communications that van Gisbergen’s nudge “was just payback for California,” making reference to the crash that Hill caused at the Naval Base Coronado street race in San Diego two weeks ago. On a restart that weekend, Hill slid into SVG teammate Connor Zilisch while battling for the lead, sparking a multicar crash that eliminated both Trackhouse drivers and threw a wrench into van Gisbergen’s postseason hopes. Additionally, a week earlier at Pocono Raceway, both Hill and SVG were involved in a crash exiting Turn 3 after Hill inadvertently slid up from the bottom racing groove.
Hill, who’s in the No. 33 Chevrolet for the seventh consecutive week after the death of Kyle Busch, was evaluated and released from the infield care center. After his medical check, Hill said, “I have no idea” when asked if the contact was retaliation for San Diego.
He was also pessimistic about having a productive post-race conversation with his rival. “I don’t know how much I’m gonna get out of him,” Hill said.
This story will be updated.