Austin Hill facing fans’ wrath for his on-track altercations is nothing new. Just last week, the Xfinity Series Richard Childress Racing driver got into it with Shane van Gisbergen, who repaid the favor before winning at Sonoma. Fast-forward to this weekend’s race at New Hampshire Speedway, and Austin Hill once again found himself in the crosshairs of frustrated fans.

This time around, Hill was on his way to a solid top-ten finish when all hell broke loose. On lap 182, contact between Justin Bonsignore, Sam Mayer, and Austin Hill led to major heartbreak for drivers such as Shane van Gisbergen, Kyle Weatherman, and the trio themselves. Whilst every driver tried to continue with damage, did Austin Hill trigger the chain reaction?

A week after pleading the fifth at Sonoma, Austin Hill can’t avoid more drama

From being slapped with a $25,000 fine for his involvement in the Charlotte wreck to getting a taste of ‘Karma’ as Shane van Gisbergen dumped him at Sonoma, Austin Hill has increasingly gotten involved with several such incidents. So in New Hampshire this weekend, the #21 RCR driver was eager to put in a stellar stint ahead of qualifying, but that opportunity never came.

With the weather gods forcing the officials to cancel qualifying, Cole Custer took pole position based on the rulebook. As the laps began to count down for the SciAps 200, Custer and Austin Hill battled in the early stages for the lead. Although Hill managed to swap places for the lead for a few laps, Custer came out in front before Sammy Smith took over the lead on lap 38.

Christopher Bell, Custer, and Smith were the most dominant forces of the night, but Austin Hill wasn’t too far off a solid top-five finish. With 19 laps remaining, Austin Hill found himself running right behind Justin Bonsignore, who was placed sixth.

This is when all hell broke loose, as Sammy Smith made contact with Bonsignore, causing Austin Hill to spin out and get t-boned by Shane van Gisbergen. Although Hill sustained minimal damage and was able to make it back to the pits, a 24th-place recovery was the best possible outcome. At the end of the SciAps 200, Austin Hill had once again lost out, owing to a wreck.

But despite looking like an ‘innocent bystander’ according to the NBC broadcast, the fan’s frustrations with Hill had reached a boiling point.

NASCAR fans ruthlessly blame Hill for the New Hampshire wreck

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For those looking on, it was quite clear that Sammy Smith taking the inside line had ultimately caused Bonsignore to spin out and tag the rest. However, a trend has been emerging lately, where fans immediately turn against Austin Hill if he has any involvement in an Xfinity wreck.

With the incident at Charlotte and his altercation with Shane van Gisbergen last weekend, many fans felt the need to highlight Hill’s proximity to such incidents. One user joked, “Any Hill involved makes my life expectancy go longer” as another pointed out the growing number of wrecks in the Xfinity Series; “The Wrexfinity Series is back!”

For Justin Bonsignore fans, it was total heartbreak. The driver would have been on his way to a solid top-five finish if not for the wreck with 19 to go. A fan shared their frustrations, “No not Bonsignore!”, whereas another took a harsher approach; “Buh bye Hill, daily reminder nobody loves you” 

At the end of the SciAps 200, it was Christopher Bell who came home with victory. But for those expecting to see either Cole Custer or Sammy Smith take home the win, the Xfinity race ended in misery. A fan shared his disappointment, “Yep, this race is a sh**show confirmed.”

Similarly, other users felt the need to highlight the ongoing Hill and SvG feud; “That wreck cost SVG like 7 spots but at least he got to hit Austin Hill again” At the end of the day, it seemed like the consensus over Hill’s involvement was clear, “Austin Hill was not an innocent bystander he was in the back of the other car the whole time” 

After looking at how ruthlessly fans seemed to react toward Austin Hill’s presence in the NHMS wreck, do you think the #21 RCR driver truly did anything wrong?