NASCAR penalty report released after Indianapolis weekend

NASCAR has released its penalty report after a wild weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On Tuesday, NASCAR announced that Austin Hill has been suspended for one Xfinity Series race due to his incident with Aric Almirola.

One of the biggest things that happened at Indianapolis was Hill right-rear hooking Almirola during the Xfinity Series race. After the incident, NASCAR penalized Hill for five laps, and he finished 34th. It was speculated that Hill could be suspended for one or two races because fans and experts believe the hit was intentional.

After the race, Almirola reacted to being hit by Hill. “It was definitely intentional,” Almirola told The CW, per NASCAR.com. “He (Hill) 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. It was time to go. I mean, we’re coming to nine to go, and the leaders are starting to put a gap on us, so it’s time to go. I got him loose, and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear.”

Additionally, two members of Erik Jones’ crew have been suspended two races for the No. 43 losing a wheel. Kellen Mills and John Rosselli will serve the penalty.

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Hill wasn’t available for a comment after the race, but he told his team that the hit wasn’t intentional. “I couldn’t hang onto it. I did not try to right-rear him,” Hill told his team on the radio. “He had me out of control and I drove back to the left to keep it off the wall. I’m not sure what the hell he thought just running me over in 3 though!”

While the Hill-Almirola incident was not good for NASCAR, the highlight of the weekend was Bubba Wallace winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. It was his first victory in 100 Cup Series races, and he has now clinched a spot in the playoffs.

“Unbelievable,” Wallace said on the TNT broadcast. “To win here at the Brickyard, knowing how big this race is, knowing all the noise that’s going on in the background, to set that all aside is a testament to these people here on this 23 team. It’s been getting old right around the cut line.”