Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has responded to NASCAR suspending Austin Hill for his incident with Aric Almirola during the Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis this past weekend. RCR said it will not appeal the suspension and revealed who will replace Hill this weekend.

“Richard Childress Racing will not appeal the penalty NASCAR issued to the No. 21 team following the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” the team said. “We remain focused on winning a championship with Austin Hill in 2025. Austin Dillon will race the No. 21 Chevrolet at Iowa Speedway.”

Austin Hill, the driver for the No. 21 Chevrolet for RCR, will miss this weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway. He hit Aric Almirola during the 91st lap of the Pennzoil 250. After Almirola bumped Hill into a slide in Turn 3, Hill hit Almirola’s right-rear fender, turning the No. 19 Toyota into the Turn 4 retaining wall.

Austin Hill says his hit on Aric Almirola wasn’t intentional

After the race, Almirola reacted to being hit by Hill. “It was definitely intentional,” Almirola told The CW, per NASCAR.com. “He (Hill) blocked me three times. I finally got him loose in (Turn) 3. He had damage on the nose, so he was really slow in the corners. It was time to go. I mean, we’re coming to nine to go, and the leaders are starting to put a gap on us, so it’s time to go. I got him loose, and he just turned left and hooked me in the right rear.”

Hill wasn’t available for a comment after the race, but he told his team that the hit wasn’t intentional. “I couldn’t hang onto it. I did not try to right-rear him,” Hill told his team on the radio. “He had me out of control and I drove back to the left to keep it off the wall. I’m not sure what the hell he thought just running me over in 3 though!”

Audi has announced a new title sponsorship for its debut Formula 1 season in 2026, with financial techology company Revolut joining the sport for the first time.

The current Sauber team will become the Audi works outfit from next season, and Revolut will replace Stake as title partner. Audi describes the deal as a “landmark agreement” as it makes the announcement ahead of its entry, attracting what was ranked as Europe’s most valuable technology company last year, with a valuation of $45 billion.

“Audi is entering Formula 1 with a clear ambition: to use the platform as a technologically relevant and economically sustainable investment in the future of the Audi brand,” CEO Gernot Dollner said. “We firmly believe in the success of our project, which we are approaching with a realistic attitude and a mindset of continuous improvement.

“In Revolut, we have found a partner that shares our ambitions and attitude. Formula 1 is a global stage that offers us the opportunity to reach new target groups together and generate enthusiasm for our products.”

Revolut Business is set to be extensively integrated into the team’s financial operations, and Revolut customers – of which there are currently over 60 million – will also get exclusive benefits as part of the deal, according to Audi.

“With Revolut, we have found a partner that shares our core ethos of innovation and relentless ambition,” team principal Jonathan Wheatley said. “This is more than a brand fit; it is a strategic alliance, engineered to challenge conventions in motorsport. From 2026, Revolut’s digital-first solutions will power key areas of our operations while also redefining how fans and communities engage with our team – delivering a seamless and engaging experience on and off the track.”

Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky says the two brands are focused on trying to disrupt the established order in their respective fields, with F1 viewed as the ideal platform to tell the fintech company’s story.

“This is a monumental partnership for Revolut and the future Audi F1 Team,” Storonsky said. “We’re accelerating towards 100 million customers, and we’ll be bringing them into Formula 1 with unforgettable experiences at a pivotal time for the sport.

“As Revolut continues to challenge the status quo in global finance, the future Audi F1 Team is set to do the same in motorsport. With a shared outlook, global ambition and relentless drive for progress, this partnership will define what’s possible in Formula 1.”

Austin Hill has been suspended for one race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after intentionally right-rear hooking Aric Almirola at high speed on the Indianapolis oval. The move drew instant scrutiny, and now, NASCAR has made a firm statement. Hill, known for his aggressive style, will sit out Iowa, be replaced by Austin Dillon, and lose every single one of his 21 playoff points — potentially dropping him from a top seed to the 12th and final playoff spot.

• Why did NASCAR feel Hill’s move warranted a harsher penalty than others this season?
• How does losing over 30 projected playoff points change his title chances?
• Why was Christopher Bell not penalized for a similar-looking incident?
• And what does this say about NASCAR’s consistency on suspensions?

With five races left in the regular season, Hill still has time to make noise — but he’s now playing with fire. The playoff road just got much harder, and his past on-track behavior may finally be catching up to him. NASCAR has made it clear: right-rear hooks at high-speed ovals will not be tolerated, no matter the name on the windshield. What do you think — did NASCAR get it right? Or did they overreach with this penalty? Let us know in the comments.

Watch also:

• TNT finishes five-race run with  average viewership of 2.06m 
• F1 now averaging 1.37m viewers through 2025 season, overtaking IndyCar (1.27m viewers)

Nascar has closed its five-race run on TNT Sports with 2.45 million viewers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

That represents a year-over-year (YoY) audience decrease of 32.5 per cent but last year’s Brickyard 400 aired on NBC, which makes for a slightly skewed comparison.

In fact, last weekend’s race at IMS was the highest audience achieved by TNT in its five-race package, bringing its average viewership to 2.06 million for the full run. This falls just below the 2.1 million average viewers on Prime Video, but it is clear that both of Nascar’s new broadcast partners have brought similar levels of performance.

Notably, these new partners have been a hit with younger audiences and TNT continued that trend last weekend. Viewers between the ages of 18 and 34 increased 96 per cent compared to the 2024 Cup Series average on cable.

The 2025 Nascar Cup Series season is now averaging 2.75 million viewers in the US through 22 regular season races.

Nascar was the best-performing motorsport property last weekend on the US viewership front, although Formula One did manage an average viewership of 1.4 million for the race-only portion of the Belgian Grand Prix on ESPN.

That said, Nascar’s news release confirming its own average viewership last weekend also points out that Formula One averaged 1.08 million viewers for the full broadcast (which contained an 80-minute rain delay). This is not the first time Nascar has pulled that move this season.

Nascar is evidently mindful about Formula One’s viewership gains, especially as the Belgian Grand Prix on ESPN represents a 27.3 per cent YoY increase on last year’s edition. Since the Formula One season started, Nascar is averaging 2.32 million viewers per race compared to Formula One’s 1.37 million viewers.

Elsewhere, IndyCar continues to struggle with the increased competition across the board as 734,000 viewers tuned in on Fox for Álex Palou’s eighth win of the season at Laguna Seca.

Palou’s historic season may be contributing to a degree of audience apathy, but IndyCar failing to exceed one million viewers for six consecutive races on commercial television points to a disappointing return.

However, this year’s Laguna Seca viewership is a 301 per cent increase on last year’s race, which only recorded 183,000 viewers on CNBC. It is also the highest audience recorded at Laguna Seca since it returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2019.

IndyCar is now averaging 1.27 million viewers through 14 races.

Related posts:

NASCAR officials penalized Xfinity Series driver Austin Hill on Tuesday, suspending him for one race for his actions in last Saturday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hill, driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 Chevrolet, is set to miss this weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Richard Childress Racing did not immediately announce either any plans to appeal the penalty or who might substitute for Hill this weekend.

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RELATED: Xfinity Series schedule | Weekend schedule: Iowa

Hill tangled with Aric Almirola in the 91st of 100 laps in Saturday’s Pennzoil 250, when Almirola’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota first nudged Hill’s No. 21 Chevy into a slide in Turn 3. After righting his car, Hill bumped Almirola’s right-rear fender, turning the No. 19 sharply into the Turn 4 retaining wall.

Almirola was sidelined after heavy nose-first contact, finishing 35th in the 38-car field. Hill continued with a damaged car, but race officials held him for five laps in the pits for rough driving.

Almirola called the contact “definitely intentional” in interviews after he was evaluated and released from the Indianapolis track’s infield care center. Hill declined comment after his 34th-place result, but in radio transmissions to his No. 21 team after the altercation, the 31-year-old driver indicated that the initial contact left him struggling to regain control before the two cars touched again.

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Hill’s absence from a regular-season race will require a waiver so that he may retain his eligibility for the Xfinity Series Playoffs. Under a rule established before the 2025 season, he will forfeit his total of 21 playoff points and be ineligible to collect more before the postseason begins.

Competition officials also issued two-race suspensions to two Legacy Motor Club crewmembers after the right-front wheel detached from the No. 43 Toyota driven by Erik Jones in Sunday’s Cup Series race. Jones crashed in the 90th of 168 laps after the wheel failure, and he finished 36th after starting a promising third in the 39-car field.

As a result of the safety violation, NASCAR officials suspended LMC’s Kellen Mills (jack) and John Rosselli (front-tire changer) for the next two events — Sunday at Iowa and the following weekend at Watkins Glen International.