After Darlington Frustration, Austin Hill Gears Up for First Cup Race of 2025

Coming off the heels of capturing the 100th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for Richard Childress Racing a weekend ago at Martinsville Speedway, Austin Hill is now turning his attention to making his first NASCAR Cup Series start of 2025.

The 30-year-old has opened the Xfinity season with a string of strong performances. Aside from a mechanical failure in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway and an on-track incident at Phoenix Raceway, Hill has finished every race inside of the top five. That consistency culminated in a historic moment last Saturday, where Hill delivered the milestone 100th win for RCR.

“After our Atlanta win earlier this year, one of the first things that was said in the shop on Monday was ‘Alright, that’s win number 99. The next one is going to be 100 and it will be a big deal,’” Hill said during a media availability on Saturday morning at Darlington Raceway. “Between the No. 2 and No. 21 teams, we had a nice little battle going on with who was going to get the 100th win. No matter which one of us got it, we were going to be happy for our entire organization to bring Richard and everyone at RCR, ECR, and CT Springs the win. It’s a huge milestone that I don’t take lightly. It’s something that I get to cherish for the rest of my career.”

Heading into the weekend, the goal was to chase another milestone: RCR’s first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Darlington Raceway. Despite Darlington being one of the team’s statistically strongest tracks – with 14 top-five finishes and 34 top-10s – Victory Lane has continued to elude them at the 1.366-mile oval. That trend continued on Saturday.

After making contact with the wall in qualifying, Hill’s No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet was forced to start at the rear due to unapproved adjustments. Still, he clawed his way up to 21st over the first 45 laps.

“We thought we were pretty good in Stage 1, and then we started Stage 2 and I don’t know if it wasn’t keeping up with the race track or what it was, but we just got really tight,” Hill said. “On the front end of the run and on the back end of the run, I would blow the rear tires off of it. We’re just going to have to go back to the drawing board. I’m not sure what to do to make the car better.”

Hill suggested that recent experimentation with different front-end setups could be part of the issue. “Maybe that front-end package we’ve used successfully elsewhere just doesn’t work here,” he said.

Beyond the on-track challenges, Hill has also been outspoken about the level of aggression in recent Xfinity races — particularly following the chaotic action at Martinsville. In response, NASCAR held a drivers-only meeting Saturday morning to address expectations going forward.

“I would say the tone of the meeting was firm, but they got their point across, and they did it in a really good way,” the Winston, Georgia native shared. “So I think that was good for everyone in the series to hear, you know, the different sides of it with all three that were in there, a lot of great things were said about what we could do better going forward.”

As a veteran, Hill hopes to lead by example in helping the series trend toward more respectful competition. Following the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200, he noted some progress - though there’s still work to be done.

“Towards the end, it gets crazy. That last restart - there were some guys turning left on people that weren’t clear. I didn’t really understand all of that but I thought for the most part we raced decent, but we can still race each other better going forward,” Hill explained.

Now, Hill is set to make his first Cup Series start of the year, driving the No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet for RCR in Sunday’s Goodyear 400. He’ll roll off from the 37th position—a daunting starting spot at a notoriously tough track.

“Darlington is a place where you have to stay up front all day. If you lose track position, your day becomes much harder in an already short race,” Hill said. “If your car is really good, you can drive back to the front. But in the process, you will hurt your tires and can’t save your right front and right rear.”

Though there is not much he can translate over from Saturday’s Xfinity Series event to Sunday’s Cup Series race, he is hoping the rubber conditions will be similar.

“Maybe with how the race unfolded, with how the rubber was laying down, I thought the rubber got really slick out there. If that correlates to the cup car that might help me some, just being able to know where to put my car,” Hill stated.

Looking ahead, Hill is focused on making the most of his five scheduled Cup starts this season.

“The biggest thing for us is setting ourselves up for the end of the race,” Hill said. “Stage points don’t matter for the United Rentals team. I’m just extremely excited to get this opportunity and I’m going to soak it all in. But when I’m on the track, the goal is to run inside the top 15 or top 20 and complete all the laps.”

Hill will take the green flag in the Goodyear 400 on Sunday, April 6, at 3:00 PM ET. Coverage of the event will be on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

Photo Credit: Jonathan McCoy | TobyChristie.com