Dale Earnhardt Jr. could only laugh after hearing that controversial Xfinity star Austin Hill suggested he could mentor up-and-coming drivers, long before serving a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Aric Almirola in Indianapolis and triggering a crash at Watkins Glen over the weekend.

Hill won three Xfinity races before receiving a suspension for the wreck with Almirola, which forced him to miss NASCAR’s race in Iowa.

The 31-year-old lost the 21 playoff points he had earned and forfeited any additional playoff points through the regular season. The Richard Childress Racing star subsequently missed the race in Iowa due to suspension.

NASCAR rules state that any absence that is not medically related stops drivers from being eligible for the Playoffs unless granted a waiver.

Hill was granted a playoff waiver and returned to Watkins Glen, but he was involved in another crash. The incident came with nine laps to go in the race. Hill, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith, and Sam Mayer chased after race winner Connor Zilisch, who suffered a nasty injury during post-race celebrations on Victory Lane.

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Hill hit into the back of McDowell but took responsibility. “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,” Hill said, via Frontstretch.

“It was just two guys racing it out. I was trying to get by the 88 (Connor Zilisch) as quickly as I could because the 88 was driving away from us, and I 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.”

Race winner Zilisch races for Earnhardt Jr.’s Xfinity team, J.R. Motorsports, who could only laugh after an incident in a drivers’ meeting earlier in the season after a chaotic race at Martinsville, where Hill suggested he could be an example of better driving standards.

“To hear he spoke up in the Xfinity all drivers meeting to suggest he could be one to mentor the kids was the best laugh I had all week,” Dale Jr. said on social media at the time.

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Zilisch’s nasty fall was one of the biggest stories out of Watkins Glen. The 19-year-old won his sixth race of the 2025 season, and five of NASCAR’s last eight Xfinity races. Zilisch fell hard out of his No. 88 and was stretchered away and to the hospital, where it was later confirmed that he broke his collarbone.

Zilisch claimed that the incident could have caused NASCAR to change driver celebrations. “I’m not going to name names, but a driver, we were at the airport and he goes, ‘Yeah, in our pre-race meeting today, the competition director said that if we win, we can’t stand on the car anymore.'” Zilisch stated via the Door Bumper Clear podcast on Monday.

“It was like a new rule for them. I’ve killed celebrations,” he added.