Will Austin Hill lose all his playoff points for the 2025 season? NASCAR insiders weigh in

Austin Hill’s move on Aric Almirola during last Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has had some serious repercussions. The driver will lose all 21 playoff points that he amassed via his three regular-season victories.

Hill will not be eligible to acquire any additional playoff points during the remainder of the regular season. As things stand, Hill will be allowed to pick up playoff points once the postseason kicks off. However, he will be the last seed entering the 12-driver playoff field.

Detailing the same, Bob Pockrass of FOX wrote on X (formerly Twitter),

“Austin Hill can't earn any playoff points for the regular season so he will start the playoffs with no playoff points. If he wins a race or a stage in the first round, he can take the playoff points earned only in the first round into the second (semifinal) round.”

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer had a word with Hill after the consequences played out. Reflecting on the conversation, Sawyer told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio,

“We totally understand the emotion around our sport. In a conversation we had yesterday (Tuesday) with him (we told him) he’s a role model for our sport, a future champion, and he’s got to take all of that into consideration and control those situations in a different way going forward.”

Hill will also need to serve a one-race suspension by staying out of this coming Saturday’s event at Iowa Speedway. As reported by Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Richard Childress Racing will not appeal the penalty and instead will have Austin Dillon behind the wheel of the #21.

Which means that Dillon now has a double-header weekend ahead of him. He will compete in the Xfinity Series HyVee Perks 250 on Saturday and the Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday.

---

Aric Almirola reflects on “the biggest hit” of his NASCAR career, Ft. Austin Hill

After getting hit by Austin Hill, Aric Almirola’s No. 19 Toyota GR Supra hit Turn 3 head-on, where there was no SAFER Barrier. Despite getting sidelined, the former Cup Series driver avoided any major injuries.

When asked about the incident, Almirola said that it was purely intentional. Recalling the incident, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said,

“He (Austin Hill) blocked me three times, and I finally got him loose into 3. He had damage on the nose, so he was really slow in the corners. It was time to go. We’re coming down to ten laps to go and the leaders are starting to put a gap on us. It’s time to go, I got him loose, and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear.”

“Honestly, one of the biggest hits in my entire NASCAR career. Very reminiscent of the hit I took when I broke my back,” he added.

This is not the first time Almirola has been involved in a life-threatening accident. Back in 2017, the driver broke his back in a crash at Kansas Speedway. As part of his recovery, he stayed away from racing for about 12 weeks.