Richard Childress is standing by his driver after a controversial move in the closing laps of Saturday's Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Austin Hill, driver of the No. 21 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, appeared to hook Aric Almirola on Lap 91 after Almirola had gotten Hill loose in the previous corner.
In recent years, NASCAR has set a precedent that right-hooking a fellow driver at speed is grounds for a suspension, though their failure to do so with Austin Cindric at COTA in March or with Austin Dillon at Richmond in August 2024 drew scrutiny.
Unsurprisingly, Childress doesn't think Hill should have to sit out the Aug. 2 race at Iowa Speedway.
"Hell no," Childress said when asked if he believed Hill should have to sit for a week. "They didn't do a damn thing to the 2 car (Cindric) when he wrecked Ty (Dillon, Childress' grandson) and admitted to it, drove him in the right-rear and wrecked him at COTA. It's who you are. We're a blue-collar team, they (NASCAR) give us trouble all the time."
Here is what Richard Childress said after the race about #NASCAR penalizing Austin Hill 5 laps for reckless driving for incident with Aric Almirola in the Xfinity race at Indy. pic.twitter.com/vJfiU1DXaZ
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) July 26, 2025
Hill was given a five-lap penalty for reckless driving and finished the race in 34th.
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