With just 10 laps to go in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis, the road course turned into a pressure cooker. Austin Hill, Aric Almirola, and Sheldon Creed were locked in a fierce battle for position on a late restart, diving into the tight first corner, a spot notorious for chaos.
Almirola went bold, sliding inside Hill with light contact that sent the No. 21 twitching through the right-hander. Hill saved it, keeping his car in line. But then, out of nowhere, his No. 21 darted left, hooking Almirola’s No. 20 into the outside wall with a brutal crash that ended Aric’s day. The car was toast.
The replays sparked instant debate. Did Hill lose it after the bump and overcorrect? Was it a calculated retaliation? Or did Sheldon Creed, running tight behind, nudge Hill into the move? Richard Childress, Hill’s team owner at RCR, pointed the finger at Creed, suggesting a subtle tap set off the chain reaction.
Most angles, though, show no clear contact from Creed, just the usual rubbing of a tight restart. Hill’s sharp left turn, coming a beat after he’d straightened out, looked deliberate to many. NASCAR agreed, slapping Hill with a one-race suspension for what they deemed reckless or intentional.
Childress wasn’t having it. “Hell, no,” he fired back when asked about a suspension for Hill. “[NASCAR] didn’t do a damn thing to [Austin Cindric]. He wrecked [Ty Dillon] 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 give us trouble all the time.” His defense of Hill, while framing Creed as the culprit, lit a fire under fans who saw it as a weak attempt to dodge blame. Childress, a NASCAR lifer since the 1970s, leaned on his team’s gritty reputation, but the argument didn’t land with everyone.
The incident’s ambiguity, bump, save, then hook, makes it a classic road-course controversy. Indy’s tight corners and high stakes amplify every move, and this one had fans buzzing. Hill’s suspension, which cost him all 21 of his playoff points under NASCAR’s 2025 rules, stung RCR’s championship hopes.
Childress’ claim that NASCAR plays favorites, citing Cindric’s unpunished COTA wreck with Ty Dillon, only fueled the fire. Whether it was a racing deal gone wrong or a deliberate shot, the crash added another wild chapter to the Xfinity Series.
Fans, though, aren’t buying Childress’ spin. Reddit threads are ablaze with reactions, calling out what they see as a desperate attempt to shift blame from Hill. The NASCAR community’s not holding back, and the “PopPop” nickname’s getting tossed around with some serious shade.
NASCAR fans unload on Childress’ defense
Reddit’s been a hotbed of fan outrage, with users tearing into Richard Childress’s attempt to pin Hill’s wreck on Sheldon Creed. One fan speculated, “It’s a possibility that Richard Childress has Alzheimer’s. He was always a bit of a wildcard, but comments like the blue collar team seem like he is mind is at a point in the past similar to what I saw with my grandparents. I wonder if everyone is scared of PopPop and isn’t saying anything. But someone might need to have to take away the keys to the shop soon and get him the help he needs.”
It’s likely a tongue-in-cheek jab, but it reflects frustration with Childress’ old-school rhetoric. At 79, he’s a NASCAR icon, but there’s no evidence of cognitive decline, just a fiery defense of his driver that some fans find out of touch.
Another user quipped, “In his mind 40 years ago before high definition cameras and multiple replay angles he might just convince some people.” It’s a nod to Childress’ roots in an era of grainy broadcasts and fewer cameras, when a team owner’s word carried more weight. Today’s HD replays, showing Hill’s car steady before the sharp left into Almirola, make Childress’ claim of Creed’s nudge hard to swallow. Fans argue he’s banking on outdated tactics to sway opinion, ignoring the clarity of modern footage.
One fan didn’t mince words: “Old Mummy Childress needs to understand that whether it happened or not (it didn’t), when you have a driver with a reputation like Austin Hill has, you will not get any breaks despite milking your association with Dale Sr. for the last 20+ years.”
Hill’s been a force in Xfinity with multiple 2025 wins, but his aggressive style has drawn scrutiny. Fans feel Childress is leaning on RCR’s Earnhardt legacy to shield Hill, but the replays and Hill’s history of hard racing leave little room for sympathy, especially with NASCAR’s swift suspension.
Another user dug into Childress’ past, saying, “None of this surprises me. After listening to him on DJD, he admits to being the one who instigated a lot of crap during Dale Sr’s rivalries. Dale telling him not to say anything until they talked after the Mayfield bump and run was hilarious.”
While Childress has reminisced on Dale Jr.’s podcast about Earnhardt’s rivalries, there’s no direct quote confirming he stirred the pot or that Dale told him to zip it post-Mayfield. Still, fans see his current defense of Hill as part of a pattern—protecting his drivers at all costs, even if it means spinning the narrative.
Finally, one fan broke down the wreck: “Hill lost it after Aric bumped him. Hill did a great job to regain control. Then he ‘went’ left (I say that instead of steered left) after about a sec or 1/2 of going straight. He then hooked ‘Eric’ into the wall. There would have to be some pretty conclusive data for me or anyone to believe it wasn’t intentional. He was pointed in the right direction for too long… Really ‘Aric’? Eric wasn’t unique enough for your parents?”
The sarcasm stings, but the analysis aligns with replays showing Hill steady before the abrupt move. No clear evidence of Creed’s contact exists, and NASCAR’s ruling suggests they saw intent, fueling fan skepticism of Childress’ story.
The post “PopPop’s Lost It?”: Livid Fans Call Out Richard Childress’ Blatant Efforts to Frame Driver appeared first on EssentiallySports.
