NASCAR announced Tuesday that neither Shane van Gisbergen nor Austin Hill would be penalized for their Lap 47 incident at Chicagoland Speedway. Following a comprehensive review that began during Sunday's eero 400 and continued through race data analysis on Monday, NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran addressed the outcome on SiriusXM on Wednesday (July 9).
The incident began when SVG's No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet made contact with the rear of Hill's No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entering Turn 3. SVG sent Hill hard into the outside wall, whose car was too damaged to continue, ending his day after 47 laps.
What followed under caution was the more controversial moment. Hill appeared to drive his damaged car directly into SVG's No. 97 before heading to the garage. The move drew immediate fan backlash on social media and calls for disciplinary action. Moran explained exactly how the review was conducted and why it did not produce a penalty for either driver:
Fans did not share NASCAR's measured approach on social media. The reaction to the CBS Sports clip of Austin Hill's car making contact with Shane van Gisbergen under caution was largely one-sided, with most pointing at Hill as the aggressor and questioning whether he belonged in the Cup.
The history between the two is still short, but it has escalated quickly. Hill drifted into Shane van Gisbergen in a three-wide battle at Pocono last month. The following weekend in San Diego, Hill overshot Turn 1 on a restart while battling for the lead and triggered a multi-car crash that eliminated race leaders. Richard Childress called Sunday's as payback for the California incident.
The Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway weekend will open with a pair of hauler conversations that NASCAR has formally scheduled before on-track activity begins. NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde confirmed earlier that officials will sit down with both Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill on Saturday to prevent the situation from escalating further.
Forde said on the Hauler Talk podcast:
NASCAR's standard for penalizing intentional incidents has typically required an admission of guilt or clear evidence of premeditation on the radio, as established in the recent case involving Ryan Preece. In this instance, Shane van Gisbergen radioed his team that the initial contact with Hill was accidental, and nothing in the radio transmissions, throttle data, steering inputs, or braking traces from Scott Miller's review at the Remote Race Control center contradicted that.
NASCAR's hauler at Atlanta will also host a separate conversation between Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar, whose Lap 31 contact at Chicagoland sent both cars into the outside wall and derailed their races.
Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.
Quick Links