It seems the NASCAR fan community is pissed at Austin Hill again! After kick-starting the 2024 season with a stellar win at the United Rentals 300, Hill has been on quite an upward trajectory this season. Unfortunately, his streak with the top-ten and top-five finishes came to a halt at Martinsville Speedway. And even Dover didn’t pan out as expected with the RCR racer finishing P15.

But that’s not what the community has been focusing on lately! Instead, this time, Hill is being accused of spoiling Dale Earnhardt Jr’s rising star, Carson Kvapil’s shot at his first win at Dover International Speedway this weekend. And, Hill himself, as well as the NASCAR community, pulled no punches against his moves toward the tail end of the race.

Austin Hill confesses his role in the first overtime caution

For Austin Hill, the shot to visit victory lane after Atlanta finally came at Dover International Speedway. With a few laps to go, Carson Kvapil had managed to slot himself into the lead and remained there until a caution dropped and Austin Hill lined up right behind him for the restart. As the racing commenced, both the #21 and the #88 were neck and neck until Hill lost traction and spun out. At the same time, Kvapil had managed to maintain his lead and was sure to walk home with the win, if not for the first overtime caution at Dover.

Unfortunately for Dale Earnhardt Jr’s #88 crew, this meant that Kvapil would need to fend off Ryan Truex on the restart, which he failed to do. As the checkered flag fell, Kvapil crossed the line second behind Truex to secure a podium, which felt like it just wasn’t enough. After the race, Austin Hill himself was quite frustrated with the moves he made toward the end.

He shared with the media, “I’m more frustrated with myself on the restart before the last one. I lost the lead to the #18 (Sheldon Creed) and then #88 (Carson Kvapil) got by, he had a really good run off of (turn) 4 and got clear and then I had a really big run on him off of (turn) 4 and the caution came out unfortunately.” Although Hill had a decent run on Kvapil in the penultimate restart, the RCR star confessed his shortcomings on the overtime restart.

Austin Hill concluded, “When we restarted there on the bottom, I got a pretty good jump and I just kind of committed to ‘I’m not lifting until I get pretty late in the corner’. It just didn’t work. This one’s just on me, on not getting the job done, getting loose underneath the guy.” Hill may not have caused Kvapil to lose out on a podium or DNF, but it could’ve been Earnhardt Jr’s rising star’s first win if not for the caution.

Ultimately, as JR Motorsports lost out on a nearly guaranteed win, the NASCAR community didn’t shy away from expressing their displeasure either.

Fans believed NASCAR should not have called a caution for Hill’s ‘expected’ antiques

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As fans recuperated after an intense Xfinity Series race at the Monster Mile, X was quickly flooded with disapproval and criticism for NASCAR’s use of caution when Austin Hill spun. The key fact is that Hill had managed to recover from the spin, which meant there was no threat or danger on track to warrant a caution. That said, the overtime finishes as of late created quite the case for NASCAR to call a caution, hoping it would spice things further. Unfortunately, this possibility didn’t sit too well with the online community.

Fans called out Austin Hill for how his spin had ruined the weekend for Carson Kvapil. One user stated, “Austin Hill ruining good things. What else is new lol” Another explained the alternate reality; “Only if NASCAR didn’t throw a caution for Austin Hill saving it on the apron, Carson had that won.” Hill’s enthusiasm on the restart also ticked off numerous fans.

One user pulled no punches against the RCR driver, “I would like to personally thank Austin Hill for being an absolute dumba** and costing Kvapil the win. Great job bud!” Seemingly, Carson Kvapil was the favorite for the win if not for Hill’s mistakes cost him heavily.

A well-informed user summed up the dilemma; “Really wanted to see Kvapil win at the end but I feel like one of the last caution they called when Austin Hill got spun they could have kept it green and Kvapil would of won I feel like. #nascarfan #nascarxfinityseries 🟣⚪⚫ …idk just a thought 🧐”

After taking a look at the heated comments against Austin Hill’s Dover debacle, do you think NASCAR should not have thrown the caution and let the race conclude organically?