From questionable contact made on the track to his attitude toward some fans, Austin Hill may not be likable to most. But damn is he good. Austin Hill scored his 14th career Xfinity Series victory this past weekend, his 11th on a superspeedway track. That means Austin has only three victories off the high banks: Martinsville, Pocono, and Las Vegas.
Why Fans Hate Him
What holds Austin back from being a superstar in NASCAR? For example, take this weekend… Look above. As Austin heads to victory lane, he informs fans (apparently a specific one) that they are #1 in his heart. However, this stems from the substantial booing and harassment from fans in the stands, not out of nowhere. Austin didn’t really get this much hate when he ran trucks. So, why do fans treat him in this manner?
Austin Hill is a blatantly dominant force on superspeedway-style tracks. How dominant? With 11 wins, he has outperformed a pair of legends and achieved this feat in fewer starts. He has passed Dale Earnhardt and Tony Stewart in laps led and wins on superspeedways. The pair have 8 wins to Austin’s 11. And he does all of this with what seems to be no competition. The other drivers in the Xfinity Series appear either unprepared or uninterested in taking chances or making runs on Austin late in the race to make passes, which frustrates many fans.
Another reason fans seem not to like the guy? His behavior on track. At Indianapolis this year, Austin right-hooked the No. 19 of Aric Almirola in what appeared to be a bit of a tantrum. His actions, of course, resulted in damaged race cars and ultimately ended his title hopes. He faced a suspension and the removal of all of his Playoff Points. (Which turned out to be just enough that he would have made it to the Round of 8, and with this win, Phoenix). This isn’t the first time there has been questionable contact on the track; he’s hit Cole Custer and even made major contact with a teammate fighting for his season (already locked in to the Final 4), which caused one of the biggest pileups in Martinsville history. That was arguably the instance that broke the camel’s back for the fans. The topping on the cake, his and his RCR team’s reaction to the whole situation.
But here’s the thing, as a fan, I love every minute of it.
You may not like him, but you cannot dispute, he is Damn good. The most important part of the whole equation, his team is damn good as well. Austin Hill is not only damn good, but his team builds him superspeedway cars that are faster and clearly handle better than the JGR cars, better than the JRM cars, and just plain better than everyone else. Couple that to a great pit crew and unrivaled talent, and Austin Hill will be menacing the Xfinity field for years to come.
A Path to Cup?
The Biggest Question here is, does all this lead to a Cup Series ride? Well, yeah, probably. Does he stay with RCR and await retirement from either Austin Dillon or Kyle Busch? He might not be that patient. Are there other opportunities out there for him? Part-time for sure, but not full-time, not yet. He has not shown much in terms of performance in his Cup starts. A top-10 at Chicago this season, but in 14 races, he’s only finished better than 20th three times. Now he does this in the No. 33, a third RCR car with a part-time team backing him (Beard cars are essentially 33 cars with 62 on the side), so with those stats, I’m sure no one is jumping at him. And with the attitude he has shown on and off the track, that’s not helping. But following his suspension, Richard Childress himself showed he has Austin’s back.
Image: Clay Guthrie/ Seriously Fast Motorsports
