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Jimmy Spencer torches Austin Hill over flipping off fans at Talladega: 'He'll never make it'

Meby: Nick Geddes10/23/25NickGeddesNews
Austin Hill
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Austin Hill was seen flipping the middle finger to fans after taking the checkered flag in this past Saturday’s Xfinity Series playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway. Hill’s gesture was in response to a group of fans doing the same.

Former NASCAR driver Jimmy Spencer got his first look at the incident during an appearance on Tuesday’s “Door Bumper Clear” podcast. He did not like what he saw.

“I’ve never done that in my life. That’s a stupid son of a b*tch, oh my God,” Spencer said. “… He’ll never make it. I don’t give a damn. I don’t care. You can’t do that. The fans are always right. He should be fined for that.”

NASCAR had no penalties to report Wednesday, meaning the driver of the RCR No. 21 Chevrolet is officially in the clear and won’t be fined. That result is exactly what the instigating NASCAR fan wanted. X user Dr. Chimp‘s original post is what kicked off the controversy in the first place, showing Hill firing a middle-finger salute straight to the camera.

In a follow-up post on Oct. 19th, the same X user clarified the Hill situation:

“To clarify some context to the picture:
Yes he flipped us off
Yes we did it first
Yes we thought it was hilarious
No he shouldn’t be punished
I respect the gesture and it adds to the needed personality the field needs
I may hate him, but I love to hate him cuz that’s sports”

Austin Hill cleared of any wrongdoing at Talladega

Hill will move forward and focus on the final two races of the 2025 season. Talladega was his fourth win of the season and third on a superspeedway.

“If you have any questions and it’s green-white-checkered, you probably just go to the bottom because of how crazy the second and third lane was there at the end,” Hill said after the race. “Being able to race for Richard Childress is always special, and to be able to deliver wins like this.

“As the playoff started and us getting knocked out the way we did, it stung a lot, but once we knew we were still in it for the owner’s championship, I decided I’d do it just like I would going for a driver’s championship. To be able to lock ourselves in and go to Phoenix knowing we’re going for an owner’s championship and be able to try and deliver one to Richard Childress Racing means the world to me.”