“100%”: Shane van Gisbergen has no remorse over Austin Hill battle at Sonoma after COTA race incident

Shane van Gisbergen, the former supercar driver, is among the best in the Xfinity Series. Gisbergen took the win at the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 race at Sonoma Raceway.

The New Zealand-based driver became a part of the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023 and showcased his experience from the world of supercar racing by winning the inaugural Cup Series race at the Chicago Street Course. In the 2024 season, Gisbergen has attempted to make a name for himself by competing in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series.

The #97 driver has now won two back-to-back races, first at Portland International Raceway and second at Sonoma Raceway. This has allowed the driver to amass 46 and 59 points, respectively. After starting the Sonoma race in pole position, Gisbergen fought with several drivers such as Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed to claim his second wind for the season.

During a post-race press conference, Cameron Richardson from nascar.com inquired about the incident between Gisbergen and Hill:

"Shane, given what happened at COTA with Austin, was it just fair game whatever happened on that final restart?" asked Richardson.

In an utmost calm yet spontaneous manner, Gisbergen replied:

"100%"

Meanwhile, during a post-race interview, Austin Hill said:

"I don't know, I plead the fifth. I'm not gonna say anything about it. We'll just go on to the next one. Good hard racing."

---

What happened between Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill at COTA?

Shane van Gisbergen dominated the field during the Focused Health 250 race weekend in Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in March. The young New Zealander started the race on the front row, in 2nd position.

Gisbergen largely kept the lead of the race for a long time and was seemingly on his way to his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series win. However, everything changed with a final lap fiasco with Austin Hill. With just a few corners to go, Gisbergen attempted a pass on the marginally slower Hill. The former was unable to make the move stick, which resulted in a collision with the latter.

The impact made both go wide and off the track, allowing the fast-advancing Kyle Larson to snatch the victory. Although Gisbergen managed to hold back Hill to the chequered flag taking the 2nd place behind Larson, his evening was further ruined by a post-race penalty.

The #97 driver was handed a 30-second penalty by the stewards for cutting the course on the final lap. With the penalty added, the Kaulig Racing driver was pushed to 27th position in the final race standing at COTA.

Now, Gisbergen's victory at Sonoma, despite the last restart tag with Hill, has delivered him some form of poetic justice for his loss at COTA in March.