NASCAR: Austin Hill to drive Kyle Busch's car at Nashville for second straight race

Austin Hill will make his second straight start as Kyle Busch’s replacement Sunday at Nashville.

Hill’s name was on Tuesday’s NASCAR Cup Series entry list for Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 car after he drove Busch’s car in the Coca-Cola 600. Busch, 41, died Thursday after he contracted sepsis while dealing with pneumonia.

Richard Childress Racing immediately moved to change the number on Busch’s car from No. 8 to No. 33 after his death. Busch had driven the No. 8 car since joining RCR in 2023.

Hill, 32, finished 27th and one lap down during the 600. It was his third Cup Series start of the season after making two previous starts in the No. 33 as a third car alongside Busch and teammate Austin Dillon.

Hill is currently sixth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standings with one win and seven top-10 finishes through the first 15 races of the season. He’s in his fifth season for RCR in NASCAR’s second-tier series and hasn’t finished lower than sixth in the standings in any of the previous four seasons. He was sixth a year ago despite missing a race due to suspension and losing his playoff points after intentionally crashing Aric Almirola at Indianapolis.

RCR has not announced if Hill or anyone else will drive the rest of the season for the team. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, RCR said Childress would hold a news conference June 6 and, in the interim, it “respectfully asks for privacy for the Busch family and everyone at RCR until that time.”