Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to hammer Austin Hill, clears the air

Austin Hill has a reputation for being one of the more aggressive drivers in the Xfinity Series. So, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. found out that Hill spoke up at this past Saturday’s mandatory drivers meeting offering to be a mentor for the younger drivers in the series, he was taken aback.

“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,” Earnhardt tweeted Sunday.

Earnhardt expounded on that thought during Tuesday’s “Dale Jr. Download.” The JR Motorsports co-owner took some more light-hearted shots at Hill before clearing the air.

“I heard that Austin Hill had spoken up to offer his time to educate the younger drivers and had a little fun with that on social media,” Earnhardt said. “The truth of that is [NASCAR executive] Eric Peterson actually reached out to Austin and asked him to be vocal in the meeting. That’s what Austin shared with me. Interesting choice, Eric. I’m just kidding.

“Austin Hill is one of the most aggressive guys in the series. And he had some moments during that Martinsville race where Sammy [Smith] ended up taking the spotlight from him. I’ve raced against him, and he races hard. Sometimes our cars run into each other and sometimes I blame him.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. questions Austin Hill offering to mentor drivers after Martinsville chaos

Hill has been called out by his competitors for reckless driving multiple times in the past. He was one of the many drivers who made questionable racing decisions at Martinsville. As for the meeting, Hill spoke in length about it with reporters. Hill said that NASCAR got its message across.

“I would say the tone of the meeting was firm. But they got their point across, and they did it in a really good way,” Hill said. “So, I think that was good for everyone in the series to hear, you know, the different sides of it with all three that were in there. A lot of great things were said about what we could do better going forward. I stand strongly on the side of, for whatever reason, when the Xfinity Series goes to Martinsville, we just lose our minds.”

Earnhardt believes the issue of respect between drivers is more of a Martinsville issue than a series issue. There’s a balance between racing clean and being aggressive, and Earnhardt hopes the series can find that.

“I do think the series is exciting. Fans love it. Fans love what they see there with the racing,” Earnhardt said. “They obviously don’t love what they saw at Martinsville, and I hope that NASCAR and the drivers can figure out a balance of good, hard, aggressive racing that you want at a short track and still deliver a great finish.”