RCR Names Austin Hill as Official Successor to Kyle Busch

WELCOME, NC — Austin Hill will officially take over for Kyle Busch and continue racing Richard Childress Racing's No. 33 NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet full-time into 2027.

RCR named Hill as the driver of the car, renumbered from the No. 8 to the No. 33 after Busch's death in May. In the 13 races since then, Hill has driven the car on an interim basis but Monday's announcement solidifies his future with the team.

“Austin Hill is a talented race car driver and his continued growth, work ethic and success across multiple levels of NASCAR competition have positioned him for his next step with RCR,” Richard Childress said. “He’s put a tremendous amount of effort into his career, especially this year with everything he’s taken on. We’ve watched Austin grow as a driver and as a person, and we’re proud to have him continue that growth with RCR in the NASCAR Cup Series.”

Hill has raced full-time for RCR in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series since 2022. In 154 starts, spanning five seasons, he has earned 16 wins, 57 top-five finishes, 93 top-10 finishes and seven poles. He has 11 drafting track wins and won the 2023 regular season championship.

Hill has reportedly been offered a full-time Cup ride before but turned it down to leave his Sundays open. However, the opportunity to move up with RCR was too good to pass up.

“I’m extremely thankful to Richard and everyone at RCR for believing in me and giving me this opportunity,” Hill said. “Every race car driver dreams of competing full time in the NASCAR Cup Series and to have that opportunity with RCR is something I don’t take for granted. I’ve learned so much this year about what it takes to compete at this level and I’m excited to take everything I’ve learned... and apply it to this next chapter."

Hill has work to do. RCR is having an historically-bad year as an organization and Hill hasn't done much to improve that with just 30 Cup starts to his name. 

In 15 starts this season, Hill has an average finish of 28.1 and just two top-20 finishes (18th at Pocono, 20th at Michigan in June) but 10 finishes outside of the top-25. In those same starts, teammate Austin Dillon has an average finish of 23.1 and two top-10 finishes: Seventh at EchoPark Speedway Atlanta in July and 10th at Iowa Speedway.

Dillon's No. 3 team ranks 26th, 74 points ahead of the 32nd-place No. 33 team.

The announcement quashes rumors of RCR possibly considering Josh Berry for the No. 33 car in 2027. Berry, the current driver of Wood Brothers Racing's No. 21 Ford, still doesn't have a ride for next year.