Tempers flare for Cole Custer, Austin Hill during Xfinity Charlotte race
CONCORD, N.C. — Tempers flared Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway as Cole Custer and Austin Hill clashed on the track and crashed.
One driver headed to the garage furious. The other headed down pit road for repairs and ended the race frustrated and seeking answers.
Xfinity Charlotte race results: Chase Elliott wins
Chase Elliott took the lead during the final stage Saturday afternoon.
"What happened between Cole and I today, that was kind of uncalled for," Hill said after the race. "I didn't destroy his race car so there was no reason for him to destroy mine."
The incident occurred during the final stage as Custer and Hill were racing for top-five finishes. They made contact multiple times. Custer hit the outside wall and then came down on the track and hit the side of Hill's car.
This second contact cut a tire on Hill's car, which sent him straight into Custer's car in Turn 1. Custer continued to scrape against the outside wall while Hill kept on the gas until Custer ultimately spun toward the inside wall.
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“[Hill] put me in the fence off [Turn] 4 and then we hit on the frontstretch because I was gonna go pinch him down," Custer said after the race. "And he decided to try and go up and side draft me and then we hit again.
"And then I don’t know if he blew a tire into [Turn] 1 or what happened into 1, but then he tried to kill me on the backstretch and just held it full throttle until he wrecked our car and killed the rear clip."
Hill saw the situation on the track differently. He did not agree with the assessment that he put Custer in the wall and said that Custer "barely grazed it." Hill also took issue with the contact that cut his tire and led to the much larger wreck.
Though Hill also noted that he could have acted differently during the incident.
"I think I overdid it going down the backstretch and staying connected to him and spinning him out," Hill said. "I shouldn't have done that part but everything leading up to me and him destroying our race cars, that was dumb."
Hill said that there needs to be a conversation with Custer before Portland. He doesn't know if this will happen but he said he wants to know the reason for Custer's anger.
"I slapped my head against the back of the headrest," Custer said. "I don’t know. I know it was hard racing, but at the end of the day I don’t like getting intentionally wrecked and killing the front and rear clip on our race car.
"It’s just ridiculous. If [Hill] wants to drive like a pissed off teenager, it’s just ridiculous. I’ve said enough.”
NBC Sports surveyed several IndyCar drivers about racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway after leaving Indianapolis.
Conflict between drivers has been a topic of discussion this past week after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. punched Kyle Busch at North Wilkesboro Speedway. This argument-turned-brawl after the All-Star Race was at least the ninth physical confrontation since May 2023 featuring NASCAR competitors.
At least four altercations have taken place this season.
"There are guys in the series that have little shorter fuses than others," Hill said. "I'm probably one of them. I'm not gonna lie.
"If I get mad on the radio or something happened, I do a pretty good job about mentally getting back in the game. But look, this is our livelihood. We're trying to win races."
