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NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill sparked a massive wreck at Watkins Glen International on Saturday afternoon and took heat from others over it.
The incident came with nine laps to go in the race. Hill, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith and Sam Mayer were among those chasing down the leader Connor Zilisch. Hill and the rest of the pack were coming out of Turn 5 when he got into the back of McDowell.
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Austin Hill walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2025, in Indiana. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
The crash involved multiple drivers as Hill took the blame for running into the back of McDowell.
“Just two guys going for it. Nothing malicious, as much as everybody wants to sit there and try to make it more than it is,” Hill said, via Frontstretch. “It was just two guys racing it out. I was trying to get by the 88 (Connor Zilisch) as quickly as I could because the 88 was driving away from us, and I thought that we could maybe have a shot at racing with him and racing for the win there. I had a massive run off the Carousel.
“I kind of thought I was trying to catch (McDowell) off guard and get to his left side.”
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NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill leads driver Connor Zilisch during the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International in New York, Aug. 9, 2025. (Matthew O’Haren/Imagn Images)
McDowell said Hill was bumping him for the last two laps prior to the crash.
“He turned me for sure. I mean, there is no way he was gonna get alongside me,” McDowell said, via NASCAR.com. “I got around him cleanly on those restarts, and there at the end, like I said, I’ll have to get a better view of it. But to me, he wasn’t alongside me. Just got to my rear bumper, turned me sideways.
“I’m not talking like he intentionally hooked me. He doesn’t need a penalty for that. Just, there was no way he was gonna finish the pass there, and he just made a decision not to lift and to turn me – but that’s not the same as a right-rear hook at an oval. That’s not what I’m saying, so I don’t want that to be communicated. I don’t want that to be the headline.”
NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Michael McDowell leads Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst during the Mission 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 9, 2025. (Matthew O’Haren/Imagn Images)
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It’s unclear if there will be further discipline for Hill. NASCAR suspended him for one race for causing a crash at Iowa a few weeks ago.
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