Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill were involved in an on-track incident during the recently concluded Chicagoland race. While the contact looked unintentional from SVG's part, the data showed otherwise.

Dissecting this, NASCAR experts and former drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray looked at the SMT data. There, they spotted how the SMT data moved abruptly during the contact, despite it seeming unintentional at first glance.

"I have to give SVG a little bit of a shout-out because he didn't say anything on the radio, and he didn't say anything about being guilty. And that is the number one rule we tell everybody. But as you look at that, it's almost undeniable," McMurray said in the video posted by TNT Sports on X on July 6.

Earnhardt Jr., one of the panelists for TNT Sports covering the Cup Series races, noted that SVG bumping into Hill occurred on Lap 48 of the race.It was just when the two drivers were battling for 28th place.

This added more fuel to the multi-week feud between the two drivers over the last few races, Pocono and the San Diego Naval Base.

"So, SVG parks Austin Hill. We talked about it in the race, the run-ins that they've had at Pocono and in the past. Maybe even San Diego could have factored into this, even though it was a mistake by Austin Hill. But I'm here for the battle between Austin Hill and SVG. That's two big boys. Oh, boy. Oh, man. And I do not want this to end," Earnhardt Jr. further added.

Taking a turn in Turn 3, the two drivers collided as SVG wanted to hold his position, and move up ahead. As a result, SVG's car clipped the left rear of Hill's car, sending him hard against the outside wall in Turn 4.

As soon as the wreck took place, Richard Childress Racing's owner, Richard Childress, took to the radio to say, "Yep, it was just payback for California."

Hill's spotter did not keep quiet either, mocking SVG and mispronouncing his name as "Van Guggenheimer."

How did the drivers react to the wreck?

Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill reacted differently to the Chicagoland incident. When SVG was asked if he wanted to talk to Hill about the incident, he believed that the other driver wasn't too keen on it as they "don't see eye-to-eye."

SVG remarked, "I’ll talk to him [Austin Hill], but he just grunts."

Hill, on the other hand, had an entirely different take on this. He shared his thoughts while talking to the media after the race.

"I'm sure you all have seen the replay. If I need to explain it, people probably need to get glasses," said Hill, per Motorsport.com.

When asked if SVG deserves a penalty for the wreck, he replied,

"Possibly. If there's definitive evidence. I'll leave it in NASCAR's hands."

In the end, Austin Hill faced a DNF, while Shane van Gisbergen finished the race in 25th place. Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing won the race, ahead of his teammates, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit