Shane van Gisbergen denied intent in the incident with Austin Hill that ended the latter driver’s race on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
The two made contact on Lap 48, sending Hill’s No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet up into the outside wall in Turn 3.
These two have history. pic.twitter.com/v67sRrJRxy
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 5, 2026
“I was shooting for the bottom, trying to get clean air, I was so tight and he just chopped my nose and got in the wall,” van Gisbergen said after the race per The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi. He denied intentionally making contact with Hill in a follow-up. Asked if he’d speak to Hill, van Gisbergen said “I’ll talk to him, but he just grunts.”
After leaving pit road following their incident, Hill appeared to drive toward van Gisbergen under caution. He was told on his radio to think of the “big picture”, but words didn’t deter him. Hill found the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet and took a hard swipe to the right, dooring van Gisbergen on the apron in Turn 2.
Missed this in real time but it looked like Austin Hill retaliated against Shane van Gisbergen under yellow. Hill hit SVG in the left front area as he was driving off pit road to the garage
“Big picture, Austin. Big picture, please.”
…
“The, uh, fellow hit my left front.” pic.twitter.com/h1irNAOyqE— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) July 6, 2026
Background at San Diego and Pocono
Immediately after the wreck, radio communications in Hill’s camp were quick to assign blame. One voice on Hill’s radio derided “Van Guggenheimer or however you say his f–king last name”. Team owner Richard Childress declared, “It was just payback for California.”
On Lap 32 at Naval Base Coronado on June 21, Hill locked up on a restart and took out himself, van Gisbergen, and Connor Zilisch as all three raced for the lead. After being released from the infield care center, van Gisbergen mused that “two weeks in a row, [he was] taken out by the same spud”.
In that comment van Gisbergen referenced an incident at Pocono Raceway in which Hill ran him and Josh Berry up the track in Turn 3. The wreck also collected Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, and Connor Zilisch.
Frustration for Austin Hill
Austin Hill didn’t have the same stance on the degree of intent behind his Chicagoland wreck as his competitor did. “If I have to explain it, people probably need to get glasses,” Hill said after being released from the infield care center per Peter Stratta. He was then asked if NASCAR should penalize van Gisbergen. Thinking it over, Hill said, “Possible if there’s definitive evidence. So I’m going to leave it in NASCAR’s hands.”
One thing Hill and van Gisbergen did agree on: neither driver foresaw a resolution from talking the incident over. “I don’t know how much I’m gonna get out of him,” Hill said. He mentioned that they haven’t discussed the San Diego incident, and alluded to a long-running friction that preceded Sunday’s run-in.
