When Austin Hill right rear hooked Aric Almirola and initially got away with it, many questioned NASCAR’s lack of action. NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi was as blunt as he could be when he said “it almost should be” an automatic suspension. For Dale Earnhardt Jr, on the other hand, fans didn’t have to guess because he had already made his feelings clear three months ago. Reacting to a Jurassic park meme taking a dig at the Richard Childress Racing driver, Jr had tweeted, “To hear he spoke up in the Xfinity all drivers meeting to suggest he could be one to mentor the kids was the best laugh I had all week.” But if you ever ask Richard Childress, the only thing you’re going to get is an earful.

When asked if Hill should be suspended for his Pennzoil 250 antics, the team owner defended, “H-ll no. They didn’t do a damn thing to the 2 car when he wrecked Ty and admitted to it…We’re a blue-collar team; they give us trouble all the time.” Meaning? Childress was referring to COTA earlier this year. Notably, Ty Dillon had driven through Turn 20 and pushed Austin Cindric off the racetrack, after which the latter got beside the Kaulig Racing driver on the frontstretch, right-rearing him into the outside wall. No caution was thrown for the incident, and neither was the driver suspended, with 50 driver points eventually being docked along with a $50,000 fine.

Hill, on the other hand, was handed a one-race suspension, which also means losing not just 21 playoff points but also a chance at a championship this year. Now, at face value, this ruling might seem inconsistent if we are to compare it to Cindric. But, a closer look—thanks to NASCAR opening up about it on the Hauler Talk podcast—makes the answer clear as day. On July 30, CBS Sports‘ Steve Taranto took to X to help decode officials’ explanations over the controversial incident. The points read:

“- Xfinity cars don’t have steering sensors or similar data, so officials relied on replay and felt like after review that Hill intentionally spun Aric Almirola. NASCAR’s Scott Miller also assisted the review remotely from the race control room at NASCAR Productions in Concord, NC”

“- There was “some discussion” on whether there needed to be things layered onto the penalty, but NASCAR elected to keep it at a one race suspension. Mike Forde mentioned Hill did not do media afterwards, but that “there were some circumstances around that.”

“- In response to Richard Childress’ whatabout assertion in regards to the Austin Cindric/Ty Dillon incident at COTA, NASCAR cited track type and the Hill/Almirola incident occurring at a high speed oval vs. the Cindric/Dillon incident, which occurred at much lower speeds.”

“- Hill’s comments following Martinsville and things he said about trying to be a leader in the garage area in cleaning up the series’ on-track product did not factor into NASCAR’s choice to discipline him.”

What’s more, in a separate tweet, the journalist also informed, “There was “some discussion” on whether there needed to be things layered onto the penalty, but NASCAR elected to keep it at a one-race suspension. Mike Forde mentioned Hill did not do media afterwards, but that “there were some circumstances around that.””

Richard Childress, unfortunately, had to yield to NASCAR’s decision as RCR chose not to appeal Austin Hill’s penalty. This is a heartbreaking moment for RCR, considering the team’s condition this season.

Sucked into a vortex of failures?

Things have not been looking good for RCR over the last few years. The problems mainly stem from the Cup Series, where Kyle Busch is on a dismal 79-race winless streak. The two-time Cup Series champion is hardly in his prime. Richard Childress lamented about Busch’s narrowly missed top ten in Dover: “We are in trouble. Period.” Austin Dillon is no better, as last year’s bump-and-run in Richmond and the ensuing penalty still hang heavy on his shoulders. Jesse Love, a promising young driver in RCR’s Xfinity team, lost his victory at Rockingham Speedway due to a post-race technical violation. And now, Austin Hill’s prospects look bleak as ever.

The No. 21 Chevrolet driver was probably the only one capable of fetching wins on a weekly basis. However, his aggression got in the way, and Austin Hill faces genuine risks. The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi commented on his career at present: “It’s gonna be tough for Austin Hill in the playoffs, a championship favorite. He’s got three wins this year [and] he’s currently ranked fifth in points. Now, he’ll get a waiver to make the playoffs, and that’s fine, but his road to the Championship 4 is much harder now than it would have been before Saturday’s incident.”

Clearly, Richard Childress needs to get on a war footing to fix his team’s problems. With Austin Hill’s fresh penalty, that task just got a lot harder.