NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill will not be racing in the Hawkeye State this weekend after a controversial move in Saturday's Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On Tuesday, NASCAR officials suspended Hill for one race, meaning he will miss Saturday's event at Iowa Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
A penalty has been issued following this past weekend's action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. pic.twitter.com/9RLC8K9FeT
— NASCAR Communications (@NASCAR_Comms) July 29, 2025
The suspension comes after Hill right-rear hooked Aric Almirola with 10 laps to go in what appeared to be a retaliatory move after Almirola got him loose coming out of Turn 3. Once Hill corrected his car, he came down into Almirola, who then spun head-on into the outside wall.
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
Hill was held five laps by NASCAR for reckless driving and finished 34th while Almirola was unable to continue and had to retire from the race in 35th. While Almirola was adamant that Hill intentionally wrecked him when he was interviewed after being released from the infield care center, Hill repeatedly denied that he did anything wrong on his team radio, saying instead that he felt he was still regaining control as the two made contact.
Shortly after the penalty was announced, Richard Childress Racing said it would not appeal and that Cup Series regular Austin Dillon will drive the No. 21 Chevrolet in Hill's absence at Iowa.
The suspension to Hill should not come as a surprise. After all, Bubba Wallace was suspended for right-rear hooking Kyle Larson at Las Vegas in 2022 and Chase Elliott suffered the same fate after similar actions to Denny Hamlin in the 2023 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
The suspension is not the only costly penalty for Austin Hill
No driver wants to miss a race and watch someone else pilot their car, so that is a major penalty already. What could prove even more costly as the playoffs get closer is the fact that Hill will lose all the playoff points he has accumulated so far.
With three wins and 21 playoff points, Hill was third in the playoff standings, only trailing JR Motorsports teammates Connor Zilisch (29) and Justin Allgaier (22). Before the 2025 season began, NASCAR mandated that drivers would forfeit their playoff points and be ineligible to collect additional playoff points prior to the start of the postseason should they miss a race for a non-medical reason.
In other words, the penalty will essentially erase Hill's three wins and take away the advantage he had earned so far, in addition to giving him nothing else to chase in the regular season since he will be ineligible to earn any more points. When the playoffs begin, it will be as if Hill did not win a race or a stage all season.
Hill will lose all his regular-season playoff points because that is a condition of the waiver for missing a race for a non-medical reason. So he will lose all 21 of his playoff points as well as any he earns between now and the end of the regular season. https://t.co/OahjXGtNwm
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 29, 2025
Hill has never won at either of the Round of 12 tracks in the playoffs (Bristol, Kansas, Charlotte Roval), making his path out of the opening round that much more challenging. Not to mention, he will lose ground to those around him in the standings, which will put him at a much larger deficit than if he had kept his playoff points.
Hill's actions at Indianapolis not only got him suspended for a race, but proved even more costly toward his championship hopes by erasing everything he had accomplished this season.