During the opening stage of the eero 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Austin Hill’s No.33 Chevrolet was caught in the rear bumper of Shane van Gisbergen’s car, sending the New Zealand driver into a spin that dropped him to the back of the field.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., never one to shy away from the sport’s undercurrents, weighed in on the incident, suggesting that without a clear admission of guilt NASCAR may find it difficult to assign blame.
NASCAR’s Evidence‑Based Approach
The series has made clear that penalties are meted out only when concrete evidence surfaces or a driver openly acknowledges fault, a standard that both Hill and van Gisbergen have yet to meet.
Austin Hill, still nursing the memory of that bump, insists the maneuver was deliberate, though he stops short of labeling it outright revenge, preferring to let NASCAR’s disciplinary process decide.
Trackhouse Racing’s driver, who was behind the wheel of the No.33, maintained that the move was unintentional, a claim that has done little to quell the growing speculation among fans and analysts.
The incident unfolded while the caution flag was out, and RCR’s driver later door‑shut van Gisbergen before parking his car in the garage, an action that added fuel to the fire.
Earnhardt Jr. later mused that the sport’s ‘hardheads’ colliding is a spectacle that fans can’t help but watch, even as the series grapples with how to police such on‑track dramas.
Chase Implications
On the points front, van Gisbergen finished 25th, a result that left him 14th in the championship standings with 437 points, while teammates Austin Cindric of Team Penske and Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club loom just outside the Chase bubble.
Hill, now serving as a replacement for the late Kyle Busch, has yet to break into the top‑10 this season, his best finish a solitary top‑20 at Pocono Raceway, but the team has indicated he remains a candidate for a full‑time seat in the upcoming lineup.