Richard Childress Racing has announced that Austin Hill will again drive Kyle Busch’s NASCAR Cup Series entry following the tragic death of the 41-year-old NASCAR legend.
Amid a sorrowful and rainy weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Hill drove the car in the Coca-Cola 600 as the garage mourned Busch’s passing. RCR suspended its use of the No. 8 ahead of the Charlotte race, changing the entrant number to the No. 33.
The weekend began with a somber ceremony in the garage, as the No. 33 and No. 3 team car of Austin Dillon unloaded first as the rest of the field watched on. On race day, the Busch family was in attendance for a pre-race tribute, which included a rendition of 'Amazing Grace' on the bagpipes.
With no name above the door and a black No. 8 decal beside the No. 33, Hill competed in NASCAR’s longest race. Hill, who competes full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series, ended the race one lap down in 27th. It was his 18th career start in the Cup Series.
Hill has never run a Cup race at Nashville before, and his best finish at the top level of NASCAR is ninth at the Chicago Street Course last summer. Hill has a best finish of fourth at Nashville in the O'Reilly Series, and ninth there in Trucks.
There are a total of 38 entries for the Cup race at Nashville, including the open entries of Chad Finchun (No. 66 Garage 66 Ford) and Corey Heim (No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota).
