Austin Hill will return to Richard Childress Racing's No. 21 Chevrolet with longtime sponsor Bennett Transportation for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season.
WELCOME, N.C. -- Austin Hill will return to Richard Childress Racing's No. 21 Chevrolet with longtime sponsor Bennett Transportation for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season.
© Mark J. Rebilas | 2025 Nov 1 Hill will return to the ride he has earned 14 wins, 51 top-five finishes and 83 top-10 finishes in 131 NOAPS races, spanning four seasons. Coming into his fifth season, Hill is looking to contend for a championship in the final race for the second time in his career and to bounce back from a 2025 season that had the potential to be so much better than it turned out to be.
Behind the JR Motorsports duo of Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier, Hill was one of the best drivers of the 2025 NOAPS season and had a chance to join the JRM duo in the Championship 4.
Then, Indianapolis happened. Hill made contact with Aric Almirola in turn three and proceeded to right-rear hook him head-on into the outside wall. After ruling the contact was intentional, NASCAR suspended Hill for a race and took away all 21 of his playoff points.
Although Hill made the playoffs, he missed out on advancing by exactly 21 points.
© Mark J. Rebilas | 2025 Nov 1 Hill closed out the season the season with four finishes of 12th or better, including his fourth win of the season -- at Talladega in October.
Ultimately, Hill ended the season with four wins, 13 top-fives, 18 top-10s and an average finish of 12.6. He finished sixth in points while teammate Jesse Love took the title.
Love and Hill are going into their third year as teammates. They have competed head-to-head with each other in 65 races, with Hill coming out ahead in 36 races. Their head-to-head stats are as follows in that timespan:
- Race Wins: Austin Hill (8), Jesse Love (3)
- Top-Fives: Austin Hill (24), Jesse Love (15)
- Top-10s: Austin Hill (38), Jesse Love (39)
- Average Finish: Austin Hill (12.1), Jesse Love (11.7)
A championship still eludes Hill, who made the Championship 4 in 2024. He ultimately finished fourth in the point standings.
NOAPS returns Feb. 14 at the Daytona International Speedway on The CW, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and the Motor Racing Network.
RCR has won the last four NOAPS season-opening races at Daytona. Love won last year while Hill won the three years before.