Austin Hill’s comeback to the NASCAR Xfinity Series couldn’t have been more dramatic, or more controversial.
In his first race since serving a suspension, the Richard Childress Racing driver found himself at the centre of one of the most significant road course accidents the series has seen in recent years.
With just nine laps left at Watkins Glen, Hill was battling for a podium when he attempted an outside move on Kaulig Racing stand-in Michael McDowell through the Outer Loop.
Hill edged his #21 Chevrolet up to McDowell’s left rear quarter panel, but contact sent the #11 Camaro spinning.
McDowell slammed the Armco barrier to his left, ricocheted into the wall on the opposite side, and was then pitched back into traffic.
The car tagged the left wall again, leaving the racing line completely blocked and chaos erupting behind.
The initial impact was followed by a secondary pile-up involving William Sawalich in the #18 Toyota and Taylor Gray in the #54.
Several drivers found narrow escape routes, but many others weren’t so lucky.
Damage was reported to cars driven by Jesse Love, Preston Pardus, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Kaz Grala, Dean Thompson, Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Nick Sanchez, Tyler Gray, Ryan Ellis, and Josh Bilicki.
Over the radio, McDowell made his feelings clear:
“What the heck is that guy doing? Why would he do that? I mean, he hooked me.”
Race control halted proceedings with a red flag so crews could repair barriers and clear the wreckage.
Speaking afterwards from the infield care centre, McDowell kept his frustration in check, but only just.
“I don’t want to say anything dumb,” he said.
“I felt like I got two good restarts there and was able to take the lead clean. I didn’t rough up the #21 at all, I didn’t feel like it, but it just felt like he kept trying to move me in the Carousel – and then there I could see he was never going to get alongside me there.
“I was all the way out. He wasn’t even alongside, just turned me. That’s unfortunate for everyone at Kaulig Racing. We were trying to get a trophy there and had a couple of shots at it.”
Hill offered his perspective while the race was still paused, speaking to the broadcast booth via team radio.
“The #11 had been struggling a little bit in front of me for a few laps through the Carousel across the middle and the exit, and I thought if I got a big enough run I might get to his left side and kind of get positioning and get to his left entering [Turn] 10,” Hill explained.
“Obviously, I haven’t seen the replays, but I don’t know if I just wasn’t far enough up alongside him. I know the grass was coming up. We were running out of real estate there.
“In hindsight, I probably should have just lifted and got back in line and lived to fight another corner. I hate it for everyone involved, that’s definitely not what I wanted to happen coming back from what we had going on.”
After a lengthy 45-minute delay, racing resumed with JR Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch leading the field in the #88 Camaro after a sketchy restart with Sammy Smith.
