No Penalty for Drivers Involved in Viral Chicagoland Wreck
What’s Happening? NASCAR officials have opted not to penalize Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen after his run-in with Austin Hill…
With NASCAR opting not to penalize Shane van Gisbergen after his wreck with Austin Hill at Chicagoland, NASCAR exec Mike Forde stepped up to explain the sport’s decision and reveal that the officials will call multiple drivers to the hauler before this weekend’s race at EchoPark Speedway.
Tuesday was one of the most highly anticipated NASCAR penalty reports of the 2026 season, as two drivers were under the microscope of NASCAR officials after two incidents at Chicagoland.
The most prominent of these two incidents was a tangle between Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen during the early stages of Sunday’s race.
In turns three and four, the No. 33 came off the front bumper of van Gisbergen’s No. 97 and went rear-first into the outside wall. After the incident, Hill mocked SVG over the radio and even gave him a shot on the apron after exiting pit road.
While there was a case for both drivers to receive penalties, with SVG the most likely of the two, NASCAR Vice President of Racing Communications Mike Forde explained why the sport opted not to penalize the No. 97 after Sunday on the latest episode of NASCAR’s Hauler Talk podcast.
First off, Forde remarked that the incident was immediately flagged by NASCAR as “questionable.”
“We have several folks in race control that held a steering wheel, and when we saw what we saw, it raised the flag of, ‘hey, that is questionable at best.'” Forde said. “And so we started reviewing immediately.”
After an in-depth review of data, audio, and video, Forde said that NASCAR felt that “Nothing in our eyes proved definitive.”
For his part, most fans did not expect a penalty for Hill’s actions on the apron, something that Forde confirmed in this episode, noting that Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer agreed that it was just “emotion.”
What’s Happening? NASCAR officials have opted not to penalize Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen after his run-in with Austin Hill…
When NASCAR announced its decision not to penalize the No. 97 on Tuesday, fans pushed back at the decision on the basis of inconsistency.
Earlier this season, after trading blows with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs for several laps at Texas Motor Speedway, RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece let his frustrations out on the radio before eventually the two tangled in turn three, sending the No. 54 into the outside wall.
After that race, Preece continued, admitting on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio afterward that he did not give Gibbs room in turn three. As a result, NASCAR penalized him 25 points for intentionally wrecking the No. 54.
What’s Happening? RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece says he has no regrets about how he raced Ty Gibbs at Texas this past…
Fans felt that, based on that controversial decision to penalize Preece, SVG should also be penalized.
In this episode, Forde points out that they have a history of penalizing these incidents where there is audio evidence (pre- or post-race) against the driver, such as Denny Hamlin at Phoenix in 2023.
“We have a pretty, we have a pretty consistent history of, if you say you’re going to do it and then do it, that is going to rise to the level of a penalty. And you’ve removed any kind of doubt. When we’re looking for a definitive here, you’re looking for enough reasonable doubt, I think, where we are . . . it didn’t rise to the penalty for us here.” — Mike Forde
What’s Happening? NASCAR has penalized Ryan Preece for a questionable run-in that ended Ty Gibbs afternoon during this past weekend’s race…
Forde did say that NASCAR is not done putting a bow on this situtation, adding that Elton Sawyer plans to meet with both drivers in the NASCAR hauler this weekend in situation.
“Elton Sawyer talked to Austin yesterday, Monday, and so we will have both Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill in the Hauler this weekend to have a discussion.” — Mike Forde
Even then, SVG and Hill aren’t the only ones that will have a chat with NASCAR, as another incident, this time involving Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar and Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith, has also opened the door for a hauler meeting.
While Smith was not penalized for their run-in on lap 32, Forde says that their incident was met with the same level of scrutiny by NASCAR.
“Same thing, same review went into it, and nothing rose to the level of a penalty, of ‘no doubt about it, it was intentional’. So we are opting to not penalize there. But we’ll be having a conversation in the hauler between those two drivers. So Zane and Carson will be in the hauler this weekend as well.” — Mike Forde
While NASCAR chose not to penalize either driver on the offensive side of each wreck, given the lengthy history that each set of drivers has on track, many fans have pointed out that there is a chance that these stories are far from over.
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