Austin Hill Believed RCR Was Right to Go to Cup With Despite Questions

DAYTONA BEACH. Fla. -- As Austin Hill was called to step into one of the most difficult positions any NASCAR driver has ever faced, he questioned his future.

"Did I still want to do this? Do I still want to be in the Cup car, did I want to be taking the place of Kyle Busch?" Hill questioned.

Entering the 2026 NASCAR season, Hill said he was biding his time while Kyle Busch figured out what he was going to do. Ultimately, Busch made his decision and was going to announce a new deal at Michigan International Speedway in June.

As it would turn out, that day was the first time Richard Childress spoke after Busch's death. They were carrying on with Austin Hill as their guy, with 2027 still up in the air.

“A lot of things were going through my head and then I just kind of kept reminding myself that someone was going to be in the car. You know, they weren’t going to just retire that team. Someone was still going to run in that car, and so I just was like, ‘Well, I’ve been here for five years.’... so I thought this was a great opportunity for me," Hill said. "I wanted to do it for the right organization, for the people that I wanted to be surrounded by. And I’ve always thought that since being at RCR... that was the organization I wanted to be at."

Hill is now the official successor to one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, gone suddenly, much like what Kevin Harvick went through after Dale Earnhardt's death in 2001.

Harvick instructed Hill to be mentally tough and to be the leader the team can rely on.

“If you’re going to have a breakdown moment or anything like that happen, do that behind closed doors," Hill recalled about what Harvick told him. "You need to be the tough guy when it comes to driving the race car and being in the shop and being prepared and showing those guys that you mean business."

Hill has tried to get into the Cup Series simulator at least a few times a week, if not more if he believes the team isn't in a good place. Having a crew chief and pit crew members from racing in NOAPS has helped him assimilate with the crew members who are new to him.

“A lot of these guys that I’m working with are kind of first time working with these guys," Hill said. "Just trying to get to know them on a personal level because it’s always business related, right? We’re always working each and every week. It’s seven days a week. We’re just constantly going, going, going. I’m trying to get to know these guys on a personal level outside of the racing world and just to show them that I care about these guys more than just what the results are on the racetrack.” 

The results haven't been great since Hill took over after Busch's death. He has just two top-20 finishes while navigating the vastly different aero configuration of the Cup cars on intermediate tracks' restarts especially.

"You see guys that’ll drive really deep in the corner and they're not really trying to pass you but they’re trying to drive close enough to you where they can put dirty air on the car and get dirty air underneath the diffuser. The next thing you know, you are like getting tight off the corner and having to lift," Hill said.

Hill is looking forward to figuring out "what makes a Cup car go fast" in the off-season. Five years of RCR knowledge will help prepare for that before racing Cup full-time in 2027.

“Within these five years... I didn’t realize how much more effort I could be putting in and more time that I could be putting into the racing side of things… learning the cars better, figuring out setup packages and things like that that I like to drive because every driver is a little different and I think that’s going to help me going into the Cup level," Hill said. "With me getting these opportunities of running the Cup car like I’m doing. I’m going to be a little bit ahead of the game going into next season."