“What a Chump”: NASCAR Fans Rip Into Richard Childress Star for His Disrespectful Gesture Against SVG

Shane van Gisbergen grabbed his second NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Sonoma Raceway after fighting tooth and nail with RCR driver Austin Hill. The Kiwi speedster didn’t have an easy run like the one he had at Portland last weekend, but rather he was made to work hard for this victory.

It all came down to the money restart run with just 11 laps to go, and Shane van Gisbergen was trailing Hill in the second place. But with the pressure of the whole field behind him, and trying to tread the needle, SvG ran into the dirt and made an aggressive move to take the lead from Hill. The #97 and #21 even bumped into each other into Turn 2, but SvG’s momentum was too strong for Hill to handle.

This proved to be a vital moment in the race as SvG held onto his lead for the remainder of the laps and secured a back-to-back win in his rookie Xfinity Series season. Unfortunately, Hill wasn’t too impressed by how he was treated on the race track and questioned SvG’s move in trying to make the pass for the lead. He even flashed a middle finger towards the Kaulig Racing driver while he was celebrating his win with an impressive Ken Block-style drift across the race track.

Sharing his thoughts on the incident, Hill in a post-race interview said, “I’m gonna leave it to the keyboard warriors on this one, I’ll let them figure out what happened. No matter what comment I say, it’ll be wrong. I plead the fifth, I’m not going to say anything about it.” It was quite evident that Austin Hill didn’t take the defeat well and was salty about it.

However, obliged by his request, NASCAR fans ripped into the RCR star for his gesture towards SvG, trying to spoil his picture-perfect celebration.

Fans unimpressed by Austin Hill’s complaints after the Sonoma defeat

This wasn’t the first time that Shane van Gisbergen and Hill traded blows, it all started at the race at COTA, where it was the latter who caused trouble for the Kiwi driver. In all fairness, it was a return of favor and perhaps hard racing, as fans like to see. All in all, this is a good rivalry that is building up, and fans are up for it. “The rivalry we never knew we needed!”

Hill has created a reputation for being the least-liked Xfinity Series driver. The driver intentionally spun out Cole Custer during the Charlotte race a few weeks ago. Therefore, to see him trying to plead his case for being raced hard by SvG was reason enough for keyboard warriors to do their job. “No respect. It’s clear in every post race interview Hill has that he respects no one. He thinks everyone should just pull over because he’s so good at driving a race car. These are times I miss Dale Earnhardt. He was good at teaching respect. 😉”

Many fans were fuming over Hill’s disrespectful gesture aimed at Shane van Gisbergen during his victory lap. “What a chump, unsportsmanlike move on @_AustinHill’s part. He’s gonna keep this up until he’s gonna have a very difficult time even finishing a race”. Another fan added to the emotion, saying, “Austin Hill is getting a mild taste of what he’s been doing to others for awhile now & can’t handle it. Keep crying & don’t stick that finger too far out!”

Meanwhile, others were in absolute awe of the photo shared by the user on X, even calling it a piece of art. “I’d buy that picture and have it on my wall.” Reiterating the same was another fan, “this would go insane as a poster.”

With Watkins Glen, Chicago Street Race, and Roval still lined up, this sure wasn’t the last time the fans were treated to some Austin Hill vs Shane van Gisbergen action.

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