Prior to Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Austin Hill had only led two laps in his NASCAR Cup Series career. By the end of the 160-lap race, the driver of the No. 33 had paced the field more than anyone.
Hill led a race-high 27 laps on Saturday night after starting from the third position. The Georgia native finished top 10 in Stage 2 and stayed in contention throughout the evening at “The World Center of Racing.”
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Unfortunately for Hill, the Richard Childress Racing driver got caught mired back in traffic after the final pit cycle of the race and wound up finishing 27th. Despite not getting the result, Hill flexed a lot of muscle in Saturday’s Cup Series race and looked to be one to beat for the win at the end.
Austin Hill’s impressive run comes at an ideal time
The strong performance comes on the heels of Hill signing a full-time Cup Series deal for 2027 with RCR.
After the sudden and tragic passing of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch on May 21, Hill was tabbed to drive the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Busch, the winningest overall driver in NASCAR history, piloted the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet from 2023 until his death last May.
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RCR chose to switch from No. 8 to No. 33, out of respect for Busch and his family. Hill’s first race in the No. 33 was the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, three days after the tragedy. Hill, who made two previous Cup starts in 2026, has been the driver of the No. 33 for 14 races after Daytona.
In those 14 races, Hill has two top-20 finishes with a best finish of 18th at Pocono. Along with taking over the RCR Cup ride, Hill competes in the team’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program. Piloting the No. 21 RCR Chevrolet, Hill has two victories in 2026 and is seeded fifth for the Chase, which kicks off next Saturday at Darlington Raceway.
Hill has been driving the No. 21 RCR machine since 2022 and has tallied 16 career NOAPS wins. Prior to that, Hill competed in the Craftsman Truck Series and scored eight career wins
The parallels of Hill, Busch leading at Daytona in 2026
Six months ago, Kyle Busch started on the pole for the Daytona 500.
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Wheeling the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet, Busch led at the third lap of the race. During that lap, Daytona International Speedway held a silent lap for the late Dale Earnhardt, who was killed in a last-lap crash in the same race 25 years prior driving the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.
Fast forward to Saturday night’s race. Hill, wheeling the same car driven by Busch just six months prior, led at the 18th lap of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Before his RCR days, Busch drove the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, winning 56 races and two championships.
Many on social media recognized the parallels between Busch leading at Daytona earlier this year and Hill leading on Saturday night. A few laps prior, fans saluted the late champion driver with a silent Lap 8, just like how they saluted Earnhardt in February with a silent Lap 3.
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