NASCAR driver guilty of 'reckless driving' after shocking Indianapolis incident

NASCAR officials deemed Austin Hill to be guilty of 'reckless driving' at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, with the 31-year-old hit with a penalty as a result.

Hill drives full-time in the Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 21 Chevrolet, but has also raced in the Cup Series on multiple occasions previously, including twice in 2025.

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The incident in question came in the former, however, when Hill was battling Aric Almirola for fourth position late on at IMS on Saturday night.

Almirola was in the No. 19 and following Hill on lap 91 of the Pennzoil 250, but caused Hill in the No. 3 to get loose in turn three, with Hill forced to violently wrestle with the wheel of his car to keep it moving forward and out of the wall.

However, once his car was corrected, Hill moved down the track immediately to slam into Almirola's right-rear, causing the No. 19 to spin and crash heavily into the wall at the Brickyard.

“That was violent, to be totally honest,” Almirola said on the incident post-race. “That’s one of the hardest hits I’ve taken in my NASCAR career.

"The impact felt very similar to when I broke my back. I’d be very interested to see the black-box data from that crash, but it was vicious and that’s just uncalled for."

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

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Austin Hill given penalty for reckless driving

Thankfully, Almirola did not sustain any serious injuries during his wreck, with NASCAR later confirming he had been seen and released from the infield care center after the incident.

However, NASCAR also confirmed that Hill had been hit with a race-ruining penalty as a result of his part in the incident, with the Richard Childress Racing driver deemed guilty of 'reckless driving'.

NASCAR held Hill for five laps, sending him plummeting down the order, and it would be fair to say that the 31-year-old was furious about it.

"Oh they can go f**k themselves," Hill raged over his car radio. "F**k NASCAR."

NASCAR officials have since confirmed that they are set to review the incident post-race to determine whether or not any further penalties are required. All eyes will now be on the mid-week penalty report post-Indianapolis.

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