Van Gisbergen spun Hill during Stage 1 of the race, which took out the #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro.
NASCAR investigated the incident and chose not to penalise van Gisbergen, given they could not prove intent.
Speaking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Marks said van Gisbergen expressed regret over the contact.
“When I got on the plane to fly back to the race shop, I sat with Shane for a few minutes, and I am telling you he was like, ‘I hated that it happened’,” Marks said.
“He was like, ‘I did not expect that to happen.’ It’s one of these things.
“You’re fighting for the bottom, it was pretty line-dependent getting into the corner.
“He shot to the bottom, and it’s just two people fighting over a piece of real estate.
“It’s just funny in our sport that it a lot of times involves the same people, and it creates this narrative.”
Van Gisbergen and Hill have history dating back to 2024 when they first clashed in Austin and again in Sonoma.
Recent incidents at Pocono and comments after San Diego in which van Gisbergen labelled Hill a “spud” raised questions about whether the #97 driver had intentionally wrecked his rival.
“You look at San Diego and you go, in my opinion, I don’t really think there is anything that warrants revenge from that,” said Marks.
“Austin just made a mistake. That just happens. It’s unfortunate what came out of that.
“I’m telling you, from Justin Marks’ experience and my relationship with SVG, he didn’t drive down into that corner and go ‘I’m going to make him pay for San Diego’. That’s not a thing.”
Marks suggested that would be a short-sighted view, given Trackhouse Racing’s relationship with Richard Childress Racing and as de facto Chevrolet teammates.
Richard Childress Racing supplies engines to Trackhouse Racing.
“We’re key partners with Richard Childress Racing,” Marks added.
“We work with RCR, we work with Hendrick (Motorsports).
“The drivers all get together; they don’t just see each other on Sundays on the racetrack. These guys work together during the week.
“They provide the feedback to the Chevy system during the week. So there are all these engagement points during the week where they get together and they have to talk about it and have to figure it out.
“So I think at the end of the day – if you’re smart as a race car driver and you’re thinking about things the right way – nobody wants to engage in a rivalry that jeopardises the success of the company and all the sponsors and all the people that build racecars for the racetrack.
“A rivalry or a lack of being on the same page with another driver is not worth jeopardising all of that. I think that these guys know that. Certainly, Shane knows that. I don’t know Austin, but certainly Shane knows that.”
The NASCAR Cup Series continues on July 13 (AEST) with the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.




























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