“It Was Payback for California!” Shane van Gisbergen Wrecks Austin Hill at Chicagoland

The dramatic beef between RCR’s Austin Hill and Trackhouse’s Shane van Gisbergen continues with their recent clash at Chicagoland.

“It Was Payback for California!” Shane van Gisbergen Wrecks Austin Hill at Chicagoland

Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill (Via @shanevg97/X, SS/via @nascar/X and @_AustinHill/X)

One of the long-going and unexpected beef in NASCAR at the moment is the drama involving Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill. The most recent incidents involving the duo occurred this Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway where the No:33 got wrecked by the No:97.

On lap 47 of the race, the three times Supercars championship winning Kiwi found himself racing behind Hill, who is now racing full-time in the Cup replacing the late Kyle Busch. SVG slammed hard into the left rear of the RCR Chevy on turn three, in a move that was clearly not natural, and ruined the youngster race early.

The whole RCR crew was furious on team radio after the incident and didn’t hold back from calling out the Trackhouse Racing driver. Spotter Derek Kneeland butchered mis-pronunciation of the SVGs name and team owner Richard Childress claiming the incident was a deliberate payback were the highlights of the radio chatter.  

Derek Kneeland: Yep, just Van-Guggenheimer or however you say his f****** last name.

Richard Childress: It was payback for California.

RCR Team radio, as reported via motorsport.com.

Austin Hill refused to let the incident slide and immediately took his payback. He rolled back into the track, after some repair on the pit-road and slammed hard into the right of Shane van Gisbergen, despite his team pleading him via radio; “Big picture, Austin, please.” The back and forth proved that the beef that started in 2024 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen reacts to the drama

After the race, Hill talked to the media about the disappointing incident and asserted that he was definitely wronged in the moment. When asked about potential penalty for SVG, he pointed out that he believes NASCAR would do the right thing after reviewing the evidence.

Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen
Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO)

I’m sure you all have seen the replay. If I need to explain it, people probably need to get glasses… Possibly.  If there’s definitive evidence. I’ll leave it in NASCAR’s hands.

Austin Hill said post-race.

Addressing the claims that his air-blocking move on turn-3 played a key role in the incident, he asserted that there was nothing he did that was abnormal in that situation. He asserted that everyone does what he did and van Gisbergen might’ve made a mistake.

I was entering the corner normal. Everyone blocks everybody’s air off, that’s the way these Cup cars are from my standpoint, it just looks like he sped up, so who knows.

Austin Hill asserted.

The Kiwi also talked to the media about the incident and but refused to take responsibility for the incident. He took a sly dig at Hill saying: “I’ll talk to him, but he just grunts.” It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the duo in the coming race weeks.

Also Read: “I’m Not Good Enough!” Christopher Bell Laments Over Heartbreaking Chicagoland Defeat to Chase Briscoe