NASCAR just dropped the hammer on one of its biggest 'role models'

At Martinsville Speedway back in March, Austin Hill, who isn't exactly known for his on-track racing etiquette, stood up and stated that he, along with fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier, could be "role models" for some of the younger kids in the series to look up to when it comes to driver etiquette and clean racing.

Even at that time, Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of Allgaier's championship-winning JR Motorsports No. 7 team, had a good laugh about Hill making that claim.

He called it "the best laugh I had all week".

Skip ahead to July, and the good thing is that everyone is still laughing, because after what happened to Aric Almirola on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that's a lot better than the alternative.

Austin Hill destroys Aric Almirola's No. 19 Toyota

Almirola gave Hill a slight tap into turn three of the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval to move him up the race track, knowing he was quicker, Hill had damage, Hill had just blocked him several times, and he needed to get a move on if he were to contend at the front.

Hill responded by right-hooking Almirola in the short chute, resulting in a violent crash, the likes of which not experienced by Almirola since he broke his back at Kansas Speedway in 2017.

Almirola, who was fortunately unharmed (but sore), was thinking what everybody else was thinking and referenced Hill's "role model" claim from a few months ago in the aftermath of the incident.

NASCAR's ultimate "role model" was then held for five laps, which was pretty much a slap on the wrist at best, but everybody not named Richard Childress, who responded with a defiant "Hell no!" when asked if the driver of his No. 21 Chevrolet should be suspended, knew what was coming next.

Given NASCAR's recent history when it comes to right-hooks on intermediate and superspeedways, Hill being suspended for this coming Saturday's race at Iowa Speedway was inevitable, and indeed he was.

Richard Childress Racing Cup driver Austin Dillon is set to fill in for him in the Hy-Vee PERKS 250, which is set to be shown live on the CW Network beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.

New to NASCAR this year, anybody who is suspended can still receive a playoff waiver, but it comes with a caveat: all playoff points, present and future (during the regular season), are stripped, so that driver effectively starts the playoffs as the 12th and lowest seed.

Hill had scored 21 playoff points (three wins and six stage wins), third-most in the series behind Allgaier and rookie sensation Connor Zilisch, but is now set to start the playoffs with zero. He had been in line to score more even without any additional regular season wins, as he sits in fifth place in the point standings (worth six extra), but he is now ineligible for those extra points as well.

He can still score playoff points with wins and stage wins in the playoffs, but that's it.

It's a massive blow to his playoff chances, since these 21+ points are effectively set to be docked from his total ahead of every round he advances to (if he advances). The 31-year-old Winston, Georgia native advanced to the Championship 4 last year for the first time in three full seasons with Childress' Xfinity program.

Hill is set to return for the Misson 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 9. Live coverage is set to be provided by the CW Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the upcoming Xfinity Series action!