The NASCAR Xfinity Series Mission 200 descended into chaos after one driver sparked a massive car wreck on Saturday afternoon.
In worrying scenes at Watkins Glen International, Austin Hill attempted to pull up alongside Michael McDowell as they battled for second place on Lap 74.
However, the two cars ended up colliding after they both ran wide, with McDowell’s car slamming into the guardrail before spinning out into the middle of the track.
The crash had major knock-on effects for the rest of the drivers who were unable to slow down in time and, in the end, over a dozen of the drivers were affected.
The red flag was quickly displayed and lasted for over 45 minutes as officials repaired the guardrail and dragged several cars away from the incident.
Afterwards, McDowell took aim at Hill for his role in the crash. He said: ‘He turned me for sure. I mean, there is no way he was gonna get alongside me.
NASCAR star Austin Hill was involved in a huge car wreck at Xfinity Series Mission 200
Hill was seen trying to pull up alongside Michael McDowell as they battled for second place
However, he instead clipped the back of McDowell’s car which caused him to spin out
‘I got around him cleanly on those restarts, and there at the end, like I said, I’ll have to get a better view of it. But to me, he wasn’t alongside me. Just got to my rear bumper, turned me sideways.
‘I’m not talking like he intentionally hooked me. He doesn’t need a penalty for that. Just, there was no way he was gonna finish the pass there, and he just made a decision not to lift and to turn me’.
Hill swiftly responded. Explaining his perspective of the crash, he said: ‘Just two guys going for it. Nothing malicious, as much as everybody wants to sit there and try to make it more than it is. It was just two guys racing it out.
‘I was trying to get by the 88 [Connor Zilisch] as quick as I could because the 88 was driving away from us and thought that we could maybe have a shot at racing with him and racing for the win there. I had a massive run off the Carousel. I kind of thought I was trying to catch [McDowell] off guard and get to his left side.
‘The grass was coming up in front of us. I had to get to the right. I was kind of hoping he was going to move to the right and kind of give me some room, and it just didn’t happen.
‘But if everyone wants to blame me for it, I’ll take the blame for it. I mean, I could have lifted and lived to fight another corner, and unfortunately, that’s not what happened and it wrecked a lot of race cars.
‘So didn’t want to come back from what we had going on the last two weeks and have this happen, but heck, it’s racing. I mean, things like this are going to happen.’
The incident comes just one week after Hill returned from a suspension for causing a crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A number of drivers were involved in the crash after failing to slow down in time
A red flag was quickly displayed and lasted for over 45 minutes as officials cleared the track
Spectators watched on as the worrying scenes played out at Watkins Glen International
Hill was served the temporary ban after colliding with Aric Almirola and sending his rival into the outside wall.
The suspension meant that Hill lost all 21 playoff bonus points in a major hit to his title shot.
Elsewhere on the day, NASCAR driver Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone in a post-race victory celebration that went horribly wrong.
The promising 19-year-old driver won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Mission 200 in Watkins Glen, New York on Saturday, surviving 82 laps against 37 other cars without injuring himself.
Things turned far more dangerous for Zilisch in victory lane afterwards as the North Carolina native struggled to extract himself from his No. 88 Chevrolet.
As he attempted to hoist himself onto the roof of the car while holding a drink sponsor’s can, Zilisch slipped. Although he nearly caught himself, Zilisch’s foot was still stuck inside his driver’s side window, preventing a clean escape.
Instead, Zilisch came crashing down to the pavement, where he lay motionless as horrified onlookers slowly moved in to check on him.
