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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES drivers Austin Hill and Aric Almirola entered an ugly wreck under the Pennzoil 250 on Indianapoli Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon.
Hill and Almirola came around a turn with 10 laps to walk in the race. Almirola entered the back of the hill and sent him sliding up the track. Almirola tried to walk around him, but Hill came down and sent Almirola, spinning to the wall.
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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES -DRIVER AIC ALYRIROLA (19) sits in the fourth trip after being involved in a crash with NASCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER AUSTIN HILL (21) Saturday, July 26, 2025, under Pennzoil 250 on Indianapoli’s engine speedway. (Peter Fanning / for Indystar / USA Today Network via Imag images)
Almirola hit the wall hard while Hill spun in the grass before he also returned up the track and got in touch with the wall. Hill was hit with a penalty of five steps due to the controversial hit. He told his team over the radio that it had not been intentional.
Almirola disagreed.
“It was definitely intentional,” Almirola told CW after being released from the Infield Care Center via nascar.com. “He blocked me three times. I finally got him loose in (turn) 3. He was injured on his nose, so he was really slow in the corners. It was time to go. I mean we’re coming to nine to go and the leaders start putting a hole on us, so it’s time to go.”
Almirola was undamaged, but he said the crash reminded him of a 2017 Vrak where he had broken his back.
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NASCAR XFINITY SERIES -driver Aric Almirola (19) climbs out of his car on Saturday 26 July 2025, during the qualifying for Pennzoil 250 on Indianapoli Motor Speedway. (Bob Goshert / for Indystar / USA Today Network via Imag images)
“It was violent to be completely honest,” he added. “It’s one of the hardest hits I’ve taken in my NASCAR career. The effect felt very similar to when I broke my back. I would be very interested in seeing the black box data from that crash, but it was vicious and it is just unsolicited.”
Hill told his team that he couldn’t hang on the car when he was loose.
Team owner Richard Childress defended Hill and doesn’t think he should be suspended over it.
“(Nascar) didn’t do a damn thing for (Austin Cindrric). He destroyed (Ty Dillon) and admitted it, drove him in the right back and destroyed him at Cota,” Childress said via Motorsports Wire. “It’s who you are. We are a team of blue collar. They give us problems all the time.”
Richard Childress talks with the NASCAR XFINITY series Driver Austin Hill (21) Saturday, July 26, 2025, in front of Pennzoil 250 on Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Bob Goshert / for Indystar / USA Today Network via Imag images)
Connor Zilisch picked up the victory.
