Kyle Petty slams ‘little bit of a punk and bully’ Austin Hill for flipping the bird on “redneck” Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma

Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill have had multiple run-ins this season.


Kyle Petty slams ‘little bit of a punk and bully’ Austin Hill for flipping the bird on “redneck” Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma

Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Petty (In Circle) and Austin Hill (Via IMAGO)

Three times Supercars champion of Trackhosue Racing, Shane van Gisbergen is in flying form on his maiden full-time NASCAR season in the Xfinity Series. He won back-to-back Xfinity races at Portland and Sonoma, putting himself in the prime spot to win the championship. SVG’s form and unapologetic approach on the track has made him some enemies.

On the top of the list of rivalries Shane van Gisbergen has is RCR’s championship contender Austin Hill. They are having a heated beef over multiple run-ins on the track. Following his Sonoma loss, Hill showed this frustration by flipping the bird on SVG during burnout. Ex-NASCAR driver Kyle Petty didn’t like this gesture and has called him out.

YouTube video
Flip the bird all you want to Austin Hill, you lost the race. You opened up the door, you had control of the race when you took the green flag. You gave that little bit of extra room, and let me you something, SVG’s got a little bit of redneck in him. He took that opening, he door slammed him, sent him out of the way and went on to victory. That’s not SVG’s fault. 
Kyle Petty said via NASCAR on YouTube.

While further talking about the point, the eight times race winner highlighted some characteristics of Richard Childress’ driver. He pointed out that Hill has a bit of punk and a bully in him with regards to his attitude.

FS Video
What we have here in Austin Hill I think is a little bit of a punk and a little bit of a guy with an attitude and a little bit of a bully. Here’s a guy who seems to be the common denominator. It’s always him getting into it with someone else.
Kyle Petty added.

Kevin Harvick highlights Shane van Gisbergen’s response to the incident

2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick discussed the run-ins between SVG and Hill, alongside how the Kiwi driver responded to it in his podcast. He pointed out the Trackhouse Racing driver gave the biggest middle figure back to Hill by producing the huge burnout and donuts.  

Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick (Via IMAGO)
I think it’s one of the most epic things that I’ve ever seen as far as not just running into each other and flipping the guy back off, but doing a burnout basically behind the guy, beside the guy, in front of the guy, on the other side of the guy ... I mean, there is not a bigger middle finger that you could throw back at the guy without throwing the middle finger.
Kevin Harvick said.

The run-ins and beef with the duo will continue till the end of the season, as they both often found themselves in same position in the fight for the championship. It’s an interesting dual the fans can look forward to this season.

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