The feud between Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill is NASCAR’s best ongoing drama. At Sunday’s Eero 400 in Chicagoland, things finally blew up. SVG pushed Hill into the outside wall and ruined his race. Hill immediately retaliated under the caution flag. However, everyone watching at home did not know see it happen. The TNT cameras completely missed the payback.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. was calling the race in the TV booth, and he was not happy about the mistake. Speaking on his podcast, Dale Jr. broke down exactly what happened, starting with the initial crash.
“Later on, SVG would park Austin Hill into the fence backwards,” he said. “SVG on the incident with Austin Hill said, ‘I was shooting for the bottom, trying to get clean air… he chopped my nose and got into the wall.'”
When asked if the hit was intentional, SVG denied it. He claimed it was just tight racing and even apologized to Hill’s crew. But Dale Jr. knows exactly how a wrecked driver thinks. Hill was sitting in a ruined car, furious and just waiting for his chance to strike back.
Then came the broadcast blunder. Hill drove his damaged car off pit road and intentionally slammed into SVG.
“Unfortunately, we missed that on the broadcast, which I’m mad at myself about,” Junior admitted. “Or, I’m mad at us, I guess, for not seeing that. But he pulls off pit road and drives into the left front of the 97. That’s some short track s–t.”
Dale Jr. explained exactly what Hill was trying to do. When a driver gets taken out, human nature takes over.
“Austin Hill knows his race is over,” Junior said. “So, when your race is over, you’re like, I want his f—–g race to be over.”
By slapping the left front of SVG’s Chevrolet, Hill was trying to bend the toe link. He wanted to break the suspension so SVG could not finish either.
Missing that moment really stung the TNT crew. TNT just took over the summer NASCAR races last year. Dale Jr. was calling the race, and he takes his TV job seriously. He hates when the broadcast misses a huge moment like that. Fans eventually got a replay, but the thrill of seeing the drama unfold live was lost.
This clash was a massive moment in a heated rivalry. Just two weeks earlier, they raced on the streets of San Diego. On a late restart, Hill locked up his brakes and slammed right into SVG. The crash ended SVG’s entire race. SVG was visibly angry and even called Hill a “spud” on camera. Chicagoland was the same story, just flipped. To many, it seemed like a payback. SVG finished 25th, while Hill was stuck with a 37th-place DNF.
Interestingly, NASCAR did not penalize SVG for the initial crash. They reviewed the SMT data, which showed he drove deeper into the corner than usual. But SVG never said a word about payback on his team radio. So, without clear evidence, NASCAR did not issue a fine or dock points.
This feud is nowhere near finished. As Dale Jr. noted on his podcast, “This ain’t over.” The next time these two drivers get close, the TV cameras better not look away.