Denny Hamlin Heckles Spire Motorsports After Tough Chicagoland Weekend
What’s Happening? NASCAR legend Denny Hamlin seemingly poked fun at the ongoing lawsuit between Spire Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing during…
NASCAR officials have opted not to penalize Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen after his run-in with Austin Hill during the early portions of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
While NASCAR’s return to Chicagoland Speedway was another great highlight for the sport’s summer run, it wasn’t without any drama.
During the race, Trackhouse Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen had an on-track spat that went viral in the NASCAR community.
It started on lap 48, when van Gisbergen got into the rear of Hill’s No. 33, sending the Richard Childress Racing driver back first into the outside wall in turns 3 and 4.
At the time, it was unclear if this was unintentional or not, with analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. saying the wreck resulted from “hard contact.”
Things continued from there, as onboard audio with RCR owner Richard Childress telling his driver, “That was blatant,” and Hill mocking van Gisbergen’s name, calling him “Van Guggenheimer” before adding, “just wait” in response.
After Hill pitted, his team had to calm him down from approaching the No. 97, with footage showing the No. 33 driving up to van Gisbergen on the apron, and door-slamming the No. 97.
While nothing came of this on the track after the wreck, fans were awaiting the judgment of NASCAR officials to see if van Gisbergen, or even Hill, could face punishment.
Earlier this season, the sport handed out a penalty in a similar incident after Ryan Preece and Ty Gibbs tangled at Texas Motor Speedway. Prior to the wreck, Preece ranted about Gibbs and later admitted on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he did not give Gibbs enough room entering turn 3.
Apparently, NASCAR does not feel that this is a similar case, as per Tuesday’s weekly penalty report, neither driver will face any repercussions from officials for the incident.
What’s Happening? NASCAR legend Denny Hamlin seemingly poked fun at the ongoing lawsuit between Spire Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing during…
While van Gisbergen is not facing consequences for the wreck, there is a chance that he could face retaliation from Hill this week at Atlanta.
As many fans have pointed out, Hill is not racing for points and has nothing to lose on the Cup Series end of things, all while SVG, riding the high of two road course wins, is sitting just 30 points clear of the Chase cutline.
Still, other fans have suggested that Hill might not do anything this weekend as he has a real shot to win at Atlanta, a track he has dominated with five O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins since its 2022 reconfiguration.
Even then, fans agree that SVG already got off lucky, as had he been handed the 25-point penalty Preece received after Texas, the No. 97 would be just one point ahead of 16th-place Erik Jones in the standings, sitting on the edge of Chase contention with seven non-road-course races left.
What’s Happening? NASCAR has penalized Ryan Preece for a questionable run-in that ended Ty Gibbs afternoon during this past weekend’s race…
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