Richard Childress during practice for the NASCAR Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Richard Childress makes bizarre claim about Austin Hill, Aric Almirola incident

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Aug 1, 2025 7:59 PM ET

In the aftermath of Austin Hill and Aric Almirola's incident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27, team owner Richard Childress has made an odd claim about what led to the crash.

Hill was suspended for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway after NASCAR ruled that he intentionally wrecked Almirola in retaliation for previous contact.

But Childress doesn't see things the same way, instead claiming that Sheldon Creed, who drove for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in 2022 and 2023, was involved.

In an interview on Kenny Wallace's YouTube channel on Thursday, Childress explained what he saw.

"I think there was a lot more that once NASCAR, I hope they take a deep dive into it like we have. If you look where the No. 00 (Creed) was, he actually caught the No. 21 car (Hill) and hooked him," Childress said. "It was all so close and happened so fast. ... I think when it went left on him, that's when the No. 00 got into his left-rear quarter panel."

Video replay of the incident does not show any contact between the vehicles of Hill and Creed before Hill began to turn left and hit Almirola. Rather, it appears that Hill initially straightened out his No. 21 Chevrolet before deciding to turn left and hook Almirola, wrecking both cars and ultimately leading to his suspension on Tuesday. Hill did hit the right front of Creed's No. 00 Ford, but that contact only occurred after Hill had begun to turn Almirola's No. 19.

The yellow flag is out at @IMS following this incident involving multiple cars.@Aric_Almirola exited the No. 19 under his own power. pic.twitter.com/tOaYGsLFJw
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 26, 2025

Dillon will drive the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway on Saturday in place of Hill, who will return at Watkins Glen on Aug. 9.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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