Rookie mistakes are even more funny when they go unadmitted. And while Austin Hill is out there doing just that, it feels that Richard Childress Racing‘s stars are probably not aligned right. The team seems unable to stay out of trouble. It’s certainly not getting them any good publicity despite trending for the entire week after Austin Dillon’s contentious win in the Cup Series in Richmond.

As NASCAR headed to Michigan this weekend, RCR’s Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill came into it on a good note. After all, he was third in the championship following his 6th-place finish in Indianapolis before the break. However, while he may have hoped to continue his run of top-10 finishes – maybe even adding a third win to his name in 2024 – what led to his spin at the Cabo Wabo 250 after the restart has got to be one of his worst errors in the season.

The race at the Michigan International Speedway seemed all hunky-dory before Austin Hill got too greedy and ran down the positions. It happened on the Lap 37 restart on Saturday, and after starting sixth, the #21 driver maneuvered his way into third place. Following that, he tried to take Justin Allgaier‘s lead from the inside. At the time, Hill was just 0.219 seconds off first place, and he may have tried making that move with an ‘all or nothing’ mindset. The only problem was that he didn’t quite complete it.

Amid the stickiness to overtake, he didn’t exactly check whether he was clear off of the car on his inside. Dramatically, Hill hooked Carson Kvapil’s front with his left rear. While the #88 JR Motorsports driver maintained his hold of the car, the #21 driver went spinning off the track and into the infield grass at Turn 3. Astonished by how the straightway triggered a spinout, Kvapil asked his spotter, “He wasn’t clear, was he?” When his spotter replied, “Nope,” Kvapil added, “I moved down a little bit, but he kept going. I wasn’t going to move anymore.”

Dramatically, Hill hooked Carson Kvapil’s front from the right.

And why would he have? After all, Kvapil was fighting for a position, too. Had he lifted off the throttle to make way for Hill, he was sure to lose crucial positions (which he ended up losing either way, having finished the race in 26th place). As for Austin Hill, as he spun into the grass after a risky move, he blamed it on his car instead of taking the blame for it. An X user noted, “Austin Hill just made himself look like an idiot… And sounds like he’s not taking accountability for wrecking himself.”

Despite the spin, he managed to gain control of his car and headed into pit road for repairs. Ultimately, he took the chequered flag in 18th place. But that wouldn’t have lessened the blow of losing a potential victory. And the fact that Hill completely steered off any responsibility for the commotion didn’t look good, either. Needless to say, viewers weren’t pleased with the RCR driver, trolling him for his stubbornness in admitting his miscalculation. But this is the kind of ‘RCR trend’ fans are getting accustomed to.

Austin Hill must’ve made Childress “proud of this moment,” per sarcastic fans

Just last week, after RCR’s Austin Dillon won in Richmond after wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap of the Cup Series race, he didn’t think he did anything wrong. He debated that Logano and Hamlin had done the same thing multiple times. While many were angry after watching Dillon’s tactics unfold last weekend, the tables turned in Michigan. Instead of showing their frustration with Austin Hill, fans took hilarious digs at the #21 driver.

“Nice job by Austin Hill to not take out the entire field there,” wrote one fan, seeing as there was no collateral damage to Hill’s mistake. It’s also no secret that he isn’t the most-liked driver on the grid. His reputation for getting involved in on-track feuds doesn’t help his case, either. So, when he took himself out by making a risky move and not completing it, another user commented, “Gotta love seeing Austin Hill get spun! 100% his fault.”

Last week, when Austin Dillon won, his grandfather, aka Richard Childress, said after the race, “Pop Pop is proud of you.” Playing on the same message but applying it to Childress’ Xfinity driver, a user wrote, “Pop Pop is proud of this moment.” Echoing the sentiment of enjoying watching Austin Hill take himself out of contention, a fan posted a video of WWE wrestler Roman Reigns saying, “Life is good.”

Seeing as Hill made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s driver, Carson Kvapil, another fan used hilarious wordplay to describe the situation, writing, “Austin Hill Activities: Dale EarnHeartAttack.” There’s no doubt Junior would’ve been holding his breath when he saw Hill almost take Kvapil out of the race. But for everyone who doesn’t support the RCR driver, a user summed up their feeling: “You love to see it.”

What was your take on the incident? Do you think Austin Hill was completely at fault?