NASCAR Insider predicts two Cup drivers to replace Austin Hill amid suspension speculation

Austin Hill could be facing a suspension for right rear hooking Aric Almirola during Saturday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Obviously, another driver would need to fill-in for Hill in the No. 21 Chevrolet is he’s suspended.

Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports predicted that Kyle Busch or Austin Dillon “could be among the possibilities” if NASCAR suspends Hill. Both Busch and Dillon drive for Richard Childress Racing in the Cup Series. Busch, the winningest driver in Xfinity Series history with 102 checkered flags, hasn’t competed in the series since May 2024 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dillon, the 2013 Xfinity champion, finished 13th at Charlotte in his lone start this season.

Of course, we’ll see if it comes to a point where RCR needs to search for a replacement driver. NASCAR issued a five-lap penalty to Hill after the on-track incident. NASCAR will conduct an additional review of the incident, and a decision will come in the middle of this upcoming week.

If NASCAR suspends Hill, it would be detrimental to his playoff positioning in Xfinity. Per NASCAR’s updated guidelines for playoff waivers, missing a race due to a suspension would result in a loss of all playoff bonus points. Hill currently has 21 playoff points, third most among drivers.

Austin Hill facing potential suspension after Aric Almirola incident at Indianapolis

Richard Childress delivered a fiery response to NASCAR after the race. He doesn’t believe Hill should be suspended.

“Hell no. They didn’t do a damn thing to the 2 car [of Austin Cindric] when they, he wrecked Ty [Dillon] and admitted to it,” Childress said. “Drove him in the right rear and wrecked him at COTA. It’s who you are. We’re a blue-collar team, they give us trouble all the time.”

The incident between Cindric and Dillon that Childress was referring to happened earlier this season at COTA. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, in response to Childress, noted that NASCAR docked Cindric 50 points for right rear hooking Dillon. That particular incident happened on a road course, whereas this one occurred at a high-speed oval. Gluck believes NASCAR will view this one differently.

“RR at high-speed oval is going to be viewed as a lot different than a road course. It just is,” Gluck wrote on X. “I get Childress sticking up for his guy of course, but I honestly think the question NASCAR will look at here is one week or two?”