NASCAR’s Mike Forde reacts to Richard Childress Austin Hill defense, explains difference from Austin Cindric penalty

Mike Forde, NASCAR’s managing director of racing communications, explained why a one-race suspension made sense for Austin Hill during Wednesday’s “Hauler Talk” podcast. Forde compared Hill right rear hooking Aric Almirola in this past Saturday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to similar incidents at high-speed ovals, which resulted in drivers receiving a one-race suspension.

Richard Childress didn’t believe Hill should have been suspended, citing NASCAR not parking Austin Cindric for a week after he wrecked Ty Dillon earlier this year at COTA. Forde explained the difference between the two incidents.

“As I’m sure he listened to when we broke the news of the Austin Cindric penalty, we do view these a little bit different. Largely, it had to do with the track type,” Forde said. “Little slower speeds, tighter confines — that’s why we landed on 50 points and a $50,000 fine. … Some people felt he should have gotten a one-race suspension [and] that’s totally fair. This one, we viewed the same way we viewed Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson at Vegas a couple years ago, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin at Charlotte last year or the year before. High speeds, right rear hooking, into the wall, very dangerous situation.

“So, we view that more at the level of a high-speed oval and how we’ve handled that in the past at those types of racetracks. Both of those also resulted in one-race suspensions.”

Austin Hill out for Iowa due to suspension

Hill, who finished 34th after serving a five-lap penalty, declined to speak with reporters after the race. Richard Childress Racing is not appealing the suspension. They announced that Austin Dillon will pilot the No. 21 Chevrolet in Saturday’s race at Iowa Speedway.

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 will vacate his 21 playoff points up to this point — third most among drivers — and any he earns throughout the remainder of the regular season will not carry along with him to the postseason. It’s a big penalty, though a “justified” one, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic said in a Dirty Mo Media video.

“This was a justified penalty,” Bianchi said. “NASCAR got this one right. The caveat, of course, is the playoff points. NASCAR added that rule this year, and so that’s really going to hit Austin Hill in the playoffs. You work all year during the regular season to get to bonus points that help you through each round. As we’ve seen many times, those can be the big difference between advancing and being eliminated. Austin Hill is not going to have those to fall back on.

“This has championship implications, but again, when you look at what happened, this was a deserved penalty for Austin Hill.”