As road-course racing returned to the Xfinity Series with the Focused Health 250, all eyes were on Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen. After all, the 34-year-old Kiwi had surpassed all expectations with his Chicago Road Course win last season. Hoping to recreate that glory in his Xfinity campaign at COTA, van Gisbergen was in a prime spot for the win on the final restart.

Unfortunately for SVG, late cautions would spell disaster, with a push from Austin Hill adding to his misery. But that wasn’t the end of all the curveballs as the Kiwi quickly gave Hill a taste of his own medicine, leaving both drivers vulnerable to an attack from eventual race winner, Kyle Larson. With that said, Austin Hill dissected the fateful incident that cost him and van Gisbergen a shot at COTA glory.

Austin Hill wants to “keep it going” after missing out at COTA

When action kicked off at the Focused Health 250, Kaulig Racing seemed like the ones to beat. Shane van Gisbergen was tied with his teammate AJ Allmendinger for most laps led with 20, and the two were consistently at the front until Austin Hill stepped into the picture on the final restart. Until then, it was smooth sailing for the #97 WeatherTech Chevy.

The course of the race changed in favor of Austin Hill after a multi-car wreck at the back of the field triggered the final restart. Hill had closely watched AJ Allmendinger’s strategy of tucking behind van Gisbergen on the restarts, eventually cutting across the inside line and forcing van Gisbergen wide for the lead. While Hill had managed to take the lead away from SVG with two laps to go, the Kiwi wasn’t one to back down so soon.

So when SVG’s faster #97 began catching up with Hill’s #21, the Kaulig driver returned the favor with a gentle nudge that offset Hill’s balance. As a result, the RCR star lost his shot at the win, and Kyle Larson snuck past the two to secure an unexpected win for the #17 HendrickCars.com garage. While Hill crossed the line behind the Kiwi, a penalty was imposed on the latter for track limit violations, sending him back to 27th.

Reflecting on the lost opportunity to secure the third win of his 2024 Xfinity campaign, Hill shared with FrontStretch; “Everyone was going for it. I’m obviously mad at the end of the race, but who wouldn’t be, right? I mean, you’re going for a win. But yeah, like, getting into (turn) one, I don’t know what happened, but like right here, where the start and finish line basically is. I got to his bumper and I hit him really hard, which was weird. I don’t know if he semi-missed a shift or not.“

While Austin Hill had nudged van Gisbergen’s Chevy on the final restart, he felt the Kiwi had missed a shift resulting in contact. Hill added, “So I hit him, and as we went up the hills, there are some bumps far left, we both were going over the bumps, I was obviously hitting him, and then I got off of him once we got to the corner, and it looked like he was wheel hopping at that point. Slid up, so then I was like, ‘Alright, this is my time’.”

Eventually, Hill slotted into the lead but shared that his #21 began to break traction with the tire fall-off kicking in. Through turns 13 and 14, Hill managed to keep SVG at bay, but it all broke loose in the next turn. The RCR star recalled, “I’d have to watch the replay, but getting into 15, it just looked like, from my perspective, #97 just ran through us and I mean you see us, front-end is caved in really bad, so he didn’t even give us a chance to make the corner obviously.“

Looking back at van Gisbergen’s payback, Hill wasn’t too pleased with the outcome at COTA. However, the #21 driver was optimistic of the brilliant form he’s been in this season. Hill concluded, “So, frustrating, but I mean, at the same token. We finished inside the top five at all races this season. So we just got to keep it going.” 

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While it’s safe to say Austin Hill is trying to make the most of his losses at COTA, Shane van Gisbergen was equally positive about how the race unfolded despite his heartbreak.

The Kiwi looks back on a ‘crazy’ race with optimism

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Despite Austin Hill losing out on a decided victory, the #21 driver was promoted to second in the standings after van Gisbergen’s penalty. Naturally, fans were expecting the Kiwi to showcase some of the classic NASCAR driver grievances, but SVG was more interested in highlighting the exciting race we got to witness.

After ending his best performance at an Xfinity weekend with heartbreak, Van Gisbergen explained why there was contact between him and Hill that led to Larson’s win. He was quoted by Racer, “It was a crazy race, we got better and better. The weather tech Camaro was awesome. But yeah, that last restart, he just drove through me at 1. So I guess that’s how it is here, I just stood up for myself.“

At the end of the day, van Gisbergen wasn’t going to let his lack of experience in Xfinity let him become an easy target for the frontrunners. Throughout the race, van Gisbergen held his own, whether it be against Austin Hill or Kyle Larson. He concluded, “But it was some pretty awesome racing with AJ, and Kyle, and then at the end, it just turned into a mess but that’s how it is. It was really fun but wish I could have gotten the lead, Kyle just snuck through there, he was driving really well but yeah, a lot of fun.”

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After taking a look at the maturity with which both Hill and van Gisbergen approached their run-in, it’s safe to say the sport’s stars may truly be moving away from the brawlers of Kyle Busch’s era.