NASCAR VP Elton Sawyer explains decision to suspend Austin Hill

NASCAR announced a one-race suspension for Austin Hill for Saturday’s HyVee Perks 250 Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway. Hill’s punishment came after he intentionally right rear hooked Aric Almirola in retaliation with 10 laps remaining in this past weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

At the time, NASCAR issued him a five-lap penalty for wrecking Almirola. They’ve now dropped the hammer, and the suspension will be detrimental to Hill’s bid to win the championship.

Per NASCAR’s updated guidelines for playoff waivers, missing a race due to a suspension results in a loss of all playoff bonus points. Hill had 21 playoff points prior to the suspension, third most among drivers.

Now, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition in Elton Sawyer is explaining what went into the decision. Weighing all of their factors, a one-race suspension was something decision-makers were comfortable with dishing out to Hill.

“We take these very serious, and feel like, as stewards of the sport, it’s our job to keep law and order. So on Saturday, when you witnessed that incident, immediately, it kind of jumped out as there was some retaliation. So, that’s why we reacted at the track the way we did, in holding Austin for five laps there. Then once we, you know, we got back to the R-and-D center and started gathering more information, talked to Austin, talked to Aric, got their input. Continued to look at all available resources through camera angles and data that we could, you know, pull,” Sawyer stated, via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“Looked at it and felt like that fell into a bucket very similar to what we had dealt with a year or so ago at Las Vegas with Bubba [Wallace] and Kyle Larson, as well as what we dealt with at Charlotte with Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. So you know, as our team went through this, and we don’t take these lightly, it took us a while to figure out exactly what the right thing was to do. That’s our goal in each and every one of these situations, what’s the right thing to do for the sport, for the garage area and for the integrity of our sport? It felt like, in this case it was, you know, a one race suspension.”

While Sawyer makes some salient points, it won’t ease the concern of Hill’s car-owner in Richard Childress. He delivered a fiery response to NASCAR over the weekend, believing his driver shouldn’t 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.”

Regardless, Austin Hill will be missing this weekend’s race in Iowa, and if the past is any indicator, the punishment fits the crime. Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace have gone through it, and now the Richard Childress Racing wheelman will, as well.

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.