Richard Childress Racing arrived in 2025 with a mix of legacy grit and roster reshuffles that read like a family business trying to modernize without losing its DNA. The #3 Austin Dillon’s car’s veteran presence still produced moments that reminded people why RCR is a historical powerhouse. Meanwhile, the team broadened its footprint by adding 20-year-old Jesse Love, who picked up additional Cup starts in 2025 as the team leaned into youth development while juggling sponsor commitments and the lingering fallout from last season’s penalties and appeals. But while RCR worked the roster and the boos, another of its drivers found himself at the center of NASCAR’s disciplinary headlines.
Austin Hill’s 2025 season, once defined by on-track success and a 2023 regular-season title, shifted into a disciplinary subplot after a dramatic incident at Indianapolis that earned him a one-race suspension and the forfeiture of 21 playoff points. The incident included Hill intentionally hooking Aric Almirola into the Turn 4 wall late in the Pennzoil 250, producing punishment and substantive coverage across sports outlets. RCR tapped Dillon to substitute in Hill’s car at the Iowa race, underscoring how disciplinary actions ripple into lineup decisions and playoff math. But another recent incident has the NASCAR community talking, and veterans like Denny Hamlin dismissing ‘hateful narratives’ against the 31-year-old driver.
Denny Hamlin weighs aggression against accountability
A top-tier driver’s instincts are honed to find opportunity, and sometimes that razor-thin edge can invite disaster. In Sunday’s wreck, Hill’s failure to lift wasn’t born of malice but of split-second calculation. He knew that backing off could cost him positioning, but committing risk weighed equally heavy. In his Actions Detrimental podcast, when Denny Hamlin remarked, “He could have lifted. He probably should have lifted. But he didn’t. He’s just not gonna get the benefit of the doubt from the general public. But I’m like… ‘Okay, let me just think about this in an unbiased way,’ I feel like I’m unbiased on Austin Hill,” it echoed a seam many racers walk: balancing aggression with caution. On Lap 74 of the Mission 200, while chasing Connor Zilisch for the lead, Hill attempted a move that would live rent-free in NASCAR lore. Exiting Turn 5’s Carousel, Hill and McDowell made contact, sending the latter into the Armco barrier, with his car ricocheting and partially airborne, collecting numerous other contenders and triggering a massive wreck and a 45-minute red flag for barrier repair.
The crash didn’t happen in a vacuum, and both driver and fans knew it. “He was there. He was outside,” Hamlin pointed out. “But here’s what he didn’t take into account is that that is a part of the racetrack where the spotters have no idea where you’re at. So, thinking that Michael McDowell is going to know that you’re there at that portion of the track, there’s no chance.” Indeed, Watkins Glen’s perilous carousel and short chute are notorious for spotter blind zones. Several pit radio recordings from the weekend confirmed that spotters were scrambling to track cars sliding off line, but by then, it was too late. In essence, Hill had driven into a zone empirical racers respect: no line, no warning, no mercy. And Hamlin’s words put that brutal honesty front and center.
AVONDALE, AZ – NOVEMBER 09: Austin Hill 21 Richard Childress Racing Bennett Transportation Chevrolet look on before qualifying for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Xfinity Championship Race on November 9, 2024 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire AUTO: NOV 09 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon241109022
Though Hamlin didn’t say it outright, his framing implied that, “He’s supposed to go to the right quicker. So, they both swung out, but Austin got the run on the outside. There’s a wall here. What the 11 should have done is, gotta get back on the track sooner rather than later. It’s not that much different than the 9 and the 88 wreck, where there was nowhere else to go. I know it looked vastly different. This take, it could be making it surrounds all social, but it obviously was not on purpose. It just was an ill-timed attempt to pass.” Drivers don’t get to second-guess those calls from the cockpit until the dust settles, and sometimes, even then, it’s too late. Media commentary was fast and unforgiving as pundits invoked his Indy penalty as a direct lens through which this new wreck would be judged. Speaking with the media during the red flag, Hill admitted that he “probably should have lifted,” acknowledging that the risk wasn’t worth it and attributing the crash to driver error compounded by the intensity of racing for position.
This captured NASCAR’s challenge in microcosm: push too hard and you are reckless; hold back, and you are just another face in the pack. Peak performance demands instincts without hesitation, yet in Hill’s case, those instincts collided with optics. But Hamlin defended the RCR star with his own verdict. “I can assure you, in the car Austin Hill’s not thinking about: ‘Well, can the spotter see at this point?’ No, he’s just trying to do everything he can to make the pass,” said Hamlin. “And the 11’s not as strong as him at that moment. He’s holding him up… So, just not the best decision, but not as egregious as the wreck appeared to be…You also don’t want to compromise performance because you’re worried about what other people think either. So, it’s a tough razor’s edge there.”
This incident became less about blame and more about razor-thin margins of racing judgment. It highlighted how even seasoned drivers can get caught in moments where instinct overtakes calculation. For Hill, the fallout may fade, but the scrutiny will likely follow him into the future high-stakes battle.
Denny Hamlin picks a side in Watkins Glen chaos
Watkins Glen’s 2025 Cup race had plenty of drama beyond Shane van Gisbergen’s dominant win. In the middle of the pack, chaos brewed as mechanical issues, spotter errors, and aggressive moves kept the crew on edge. Kyle Busch, already battling a slow pit stop, found his day unraveling after contact with Denny Hamlin, triggered by Ross Chastain diving into Turn 7. The incident sent tempers flaring, with Busch blasting Chastain over the radio.
Hamlin, however, was on a defending spree in his podcast. He insisted the contact was more a product of racing circumstances than reckless intent. While acknowledging Chastain‘s trademark aggressive style, infamous since his 2023 “Hail Melon,” the former argued, “I don’t think it was Ross’s fault. I saw it, yes, he dived in there late. But I got up the racetrack and I got into Kyle… It just made a ton of contact, bouncing me up into the 45.”
Hamlin, however, didn’t fully absolve Chastain. The Trackhouse driver once again left little margin for comfort. Hamlin admitted, “I went into that corner and I’m like, I’m not gonna cut him any break, right? And then I see the 1, he dives in there. Then I leave room for the 1; he’s not really leaving me a whole lot of room. At that point, I’m like, I’m not gonna just let you run over me… and now I’m gonna lift for you also?” But the veteran’s willingness to defend Chastain in a heated situation contrasted sharply with his more combative stances in the previous season, highlighting the unpredictability of driver alliances as the playoff looms.
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