Austin Hill Laughs About His Top 10 Streak Ending Due to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Pupil’s Mistake

Published 04/07/2024, 5:00 AM EDT

Austin Hill had an average finish of 3.3 before this weekend’s DUDE Wipes 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville, having shown consistent Top 10 performances in the past few weeks. However, the latest race saw him finishing at a dismal P34. For Hill, this incident marked his first finish outside the top 10 this season. However, it seems not all of it was the driver’s own fault. Seemingly, the man responsible for this is none other than Dale Jr’s JR Motorsports #9 driver Brandon Jones. Jones’ reported missed shift during the restart at the beginning of Stage 2 caused a stack-up of cars behind him. This led to a 14-car pileup in turn one.

Although the Lap 71 accident did not result in any injuries, it forced the elimination of five of the 14 drivers involved. The multi-car crash took out Austin Hill, Kyle Weatherman, Corey Heim, A.J. Allmendinger, and Parker Retzlaff from the event. As Hill should rightly be disappointed at this, he surprisingly managed to stay calm after the race.

Austin Hill admits how “tough” Martinsville can get

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After the race, Austin Hill was caught in an interview with Frontstretch. He acknowledged that he saw Jones’ car coming and applied the brake as well. But his efforts went in vain due to the lack of enough room. Rather than getting irritated with the turn of events, Hill stated that he would watch the replay and see if he could have done anything differently.

Hill said, “I didn’t see a whole lot in front of me. Obviously, I saw the 20 checking up, and I like, fully went on the brake pedal trying to get stopped, but just didn’t have enough room there. It’s tough at a place like Martinsville, where you don’t have nowhere to go. So, I watched the replay for a second, but I’m sure I’ll go back and watch it again. See if there’s anything I could have done differently. Just unfortunate to have a missed shift on a restart like that.“

"I saw the 20 checking up, and I fully went on the brake pedal trying to get stopped and it just didn't have enough room there." Austin Hill ends top-five streak after a stack-up on a restart at Martinsville:
📹@folsom_chase pic.twitter.com/uDZb4qx00c
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) April 7, 2024

The driver also exuded hope about his overall performance during this season and reiterated how he’s confident for his next showing at the venue, which is set to be held in November this year. added, “We had such a fast bender Chevrolet. Thought we could have worked on it. Made it a little bit better. And we’re out early, but I have high hopes with where we’re at with our short track program. We’ve made strides over the last year or so. So, I feel really confident when we come back here.”

Austin Hill Not Liking the Taste of His Own Medicine With Shane van Gisbergen Hitting Back at COTA

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The 29-year-old further reflected on the progress made in areas they had previously struggled with. He particularly mentioned the tightness in the center, which had been a significant issue for them during past visits. The team noted an improvement in turning at the center throughout the night, but faced challenges with the drive off. They were unable to apply the throttle as desired due to the right rear spinning. Despite making adjustments in the pit road that they hoped would enhance the car’s drive and potentially propel them into the top five for a win, it went for an early exit from the race.

However, it doesn’t look likr Austin Hill is going to be losing any sleep over the unsatisfactory result as he revealed his excitement about the upcoming week.

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A great season awaiting the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing driver

Austin Hill also expressed a need to maintain a positive attitude, recognizing that not much could have been done about the situation, and mentioned looking forward to the double duty in the following week. “Yeah I’m excited to go Cup Racing again. I’m excited to see what we can do with RCR equipment in the 33 car. Just a great opportunity for me. Hoping to make all the laps. But also hoping to get up there and mix it up with the guys,” he continued.

In 2024, Austin Hill will compete in a number of NASCAR Cup Series races under the banner of Richard Childress Racing. Behind the wheel of the No. 33 Chevrolet, Hill’s inaugural race will be the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. With United Rentals as the main sponsor and Keith Rodden anticipated to be the crew chief, Hill’s commendable second-place standing in the Xfinity Series points have perhaps earned him these Cup Series racing opportunities.

NEWS: @_AustinHill returns to the NASCAR Cup Series for four races this season, driving RCR’s NO. 33 with primary sponsorship from @UnitedRentals.
Read more: https://t.co/Ap7lQLV49i pic.twitter.com/OS9xInY8DG
— RCR (@RCRracing) April 5, 2024

Let’s see how he capitalizes on this exciting development. Going by his current form, he is expected to deliver great at the Cup Series as well!

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Written by:

Mamata Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Combining her love for writing and motorsports she has created some interesting and in-depth stories on drivers like Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joining ES with 3 years of experience in the field of writing, Mamata feels right at home in her role as a NASCAR Journalist.

Edited by:

Ariva Debnath