INDIANAPOLIS -- A wreck involving Austin Hill and Aric Almirola led to a five-lap penalty for reckless driving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but NASCAR is not done examining this incident.
More penalties are entirely possible if NASCAR determines that Hill intentionally hooked Almirola into the outside wall at the 2.5-mile track.
The incident unfolded with 10 laps remaining in Saturday's Xfinity Series race. Almirola got to Hill's bumper and moved him. This got the No. 21 sideways and sent it sliding toward the outside wall. Hill saved the car but then immediately turned into Almirola.
This spun Almirola's No. 19 Toyota into the outside wall, where it made hard contact. Hill's No. 21 spun toward the infield before sliding back up the track and hitting the outside wall.
.@_AustinHill initially makes the save before making contact with @Aric_Almirola, bringing out the caution. pic.twitter.com/baBqE2TGqz
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) July 26, 2025
The Richard Childress Racing driver immediately came over the radio and said that this was not intentional. However, he made some strong comments over the radio after learning that NASCAR would hold him for five laps as an in-race penalty.
"They can go f*** themselves," Hill said over the radio. "F*** NASCAR. That is f***ing bulls**."
The Richard Childress Racing driver declined to speak with media members after the race. Almirola, however, made some comments after exiting the infield care center. His focused solely on the actions that sent him to the infield care center.
"It was definitely intentional," Almirola said to CW Sports. "He blocked me three times. I finally got him loose in (Turn 3) -- he had damage on the nose, so he was really slow in the corners.
"...I got him loose, and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rears. Honestly, that was one of the biggest hits of my entire NASCAR career. Very reminiscent of the hit I took (at Kansas) when I broke my back."
When this incident happened, the conversation immediately turned to whether NASCAR should penalize Hill for his actions behind the wheel.
When asked by Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic if Hill should be suspended, team owner Richard Childress responded forcefully, saying, "Hell no! They didn't do a damn thing to the 2 car (Austin Cindric) when he wrecked Ty (Dillon) and admitted to it.
"Drove him in the right rear and wrecked him at COTA (Circuit of the Americas). It's who you are. We're a blue collar team, they give us trouble all the time."
The incident Childress referred to took place in March. Cindric, a Team Penske driver, hooked Dillon, a Kaulig Racing driver, at Circuit of the Americas. This spun Dillon, Childress' grandson, into the frontstretch wall.
NASCAR examined the incident and decided to penalize Cindric. They did not suspend the Team Penske driver, something that was an option according to the Rule Book. Instead, NASCAR fined Cindric $50,000 and took away 50 driver points.
Financial and points penalties are something NASCAR could consider once again as it examines this incident with Hill and Almirola. A suspension is also possible under the Rule Book's guidelines. With this incident taking place in the Xfinity Series, the financial penalties would be smaller, but still significant.
NASCAR will ultimately reveal its decision on either Tuesday or Wednesday with its weekly penalty report.