Dale Earnhardt Jr. compared the situation that unfolded between Austin Hill and Cole Custer during last weekend’s Xfinity Series race in Charlotte to that of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch from North Wilkesboro.
First, Earnhardt Jr. explained his thoughts on what led to Hill wrecking Custer over the weekend, actually believing Hill was in the right, until he made the decision to end Custer’s afternoon early.
“The big news from that race I think is Austin Hill and Cole Custer,” Earnhardt Jr. stated, during the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download. “So there’s been quite the back and fourth … Austin and Cole got together on the back-front straight away, and it cut the right front tire on the No. 21 car of Austin Hill, and he goes down into Turn 1, and he and Custer crash out. I listened to Austin’s post-race interview, and I don’t disagree with anything he said. He’s like, ‘All that was really stupid, and it was mostly Cole’s fault. Cole said in his interview, ‘We ran tight off of Turn 4,’ Cole brushed the wall, and he said, ‘I was going to crowd him down the front straight-away,’ and so when Cole went down to crowd him, Austin Hill, you know, they made contact, and I really put that on Cole.
“He said as much, ‘I went down to crowd him.’ Through a dog-leg, crowding a guy, or doing anything really close to a guy, is taking a risk, because both of you might misinterpret how you’re going to use this dog-leg, and use up the race-track. So that’s what happened. They crashed, they clashed together, and cut the right-front tire on the No. 21.”
As Earnhardt Jr. said, he agreed with most of Hill’s sentiment, until he decided to wreck Custer over the weekend. However, the NASCAR Hall of Famer didn’t know whether Hill would receive a punishment or not, after Busch got off free for wrecking Stenhouse Jr. during the All-Star Race earlier in May.
“So you know, I think Austin, listing to his post-race interview, is relatively correct in everything he said, but they get around to the back straight-away, and Austin decided that he was going to turn Custer around, right? So that’s kind of where it gets sideways, no pun intended,” Earnhardt Jr. delineated. “I think NASCAR might have to do something here with Austin. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know the severity. I can’t even guess now, with last week’s penalty for [Ricky] Stenhouse [Jr.] being set at $75,000. Stenhouse gets penalized $75,000, Kyle Busch gets nothing, for what we know was an intentional wreck. So what precedent has that set for this particular situation, where I see it exactly the same way.
“Yes, Austin Hill wrecked Cole Custer intentionally. Yes, that’s bad. Yes, he deserves some sort of punishment. But something similar happened the week before, and nothing happened. So it’s anybody’s guess, if NASCAR does anything on this situation.”
In the end, Austin Hill was fined $25,000 by NASCAR, who also assessed him with a loss of 25 driver points for violating the Member Code of Conduct for wrecking Cole Custer.
Perhaps the Richard Childress Racing wheelman will be more mindful of that possibility moving forward, as he’s been involved in multiple altercations over the last year and change. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be keeping an eye on the situation moving forward, that’s for sure.
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