Kevin Harvick calls SVG pettiness toward Austin Hill 'one of the most epic things I've ever seen'

Austin Hill didn’t take too kindly to Shane van Gisbergen doing a burnout through the straightaway of Sonoma Raceway all the way down to pit road after winning this past Saturday’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250.

As captured by photographer Justin Sheldon, Hill gave van Gisbergen the middle finger as the New Zealand native did his burnout next to him. Hill already had a reason to be less than thrilled with van Gisbergen after he bumped him out of the way with 11 laps remaining to take the lead.

Kevin Harvick discussed van Gisbergen’s Sonoma burnout on his “Happy Hour” podcast this week, calling it “one of the most epic things” he’s ever seen on the racetrack.

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“I think it’s one of the most epic things that I’ve ever seen as far as not just running into each other and flipping the guy back off, but doing a burnout basically behind the guy, beside the guy, in front of the guy, on the other side of the guy — all the way back to pit road and then just going on his merry way to do some donuts on the frontstretch,” Harvick said. “I mean, there is not a bigger middle finger that you could throw back at the guy without throwing the middle finger.”

van Gisbergen said his burnout was initially for the fans, but after seeing Hill give him the bird, he decided he’d follow Hill around the entire racetrack.

Shane van Gisbergen followed Austin Hill with Sonoma burnout after getting the finger

“You know, you want to be a good winner, so I feel a little bit bad and, in some ways, petty,” van Gisbergen said, during an appearance on Corey LaJoie’s “Stacking Pennies” podcast. “So, I was doing the skid at Turn 1, because that’s where all the fans are on the hill, and in Turn 2, and then he goes past pulling the finger. So, I’m like, ‘This is for you now, not the fans.’ I just followed him the whole lap.

“But you know, he knows what COTA was. I just followed him. And then during the lap he’s pulling the finger. So eventually, I passed him, and I was just waving at him. I don’t feel anything against him, but.”

Shane van Gisbergen explains contact with Austin Hill at Sonoma

As for the earlier contact between the two, they are now even in van Gisbergen’s mind. Hill cost him a shot at winning at COTA back in March, a race ultimately won by Kyle Larson.

“I hate racing and thinking like that, but to me, we’ve both taken a race win off each other now,” van Gisbergen said. “I don’t know. Didn’t go into the corner planning to take him out. Like, I wasn’t going to hit him off the track, but I was gonna try to pass him and I did everything I could. And when he kept choosing left on restarts, I was like ‘oh, that’s surprising,’ because I chose the left on the first restart, and it was a mistake. And if I had the opportunity again, I would have chosen the right every time.

“So as soon as he chose the left, I knew, OK, this is a good opportunity to hang around the outside [of Turn 1] and force my way to the inside at Turn 2. And, like, I didn’t take him out properly, you know? I just made a hole and got through.”