The hearts of folks in and around NASCAR are still heavy this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway as the sport prepares for another Cup Series race following the shocking death of Kyle Busch.
In Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400, Austin Hill will once again hop into the driver’s seat of Busch’s car, which has since been renumbered from No. 8 to No. 33.
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With that, a question in the back of the minds of many remains: Who will be the long-term replacement for Busch for Richard Childress Racing? Will it be Hill?
Speaking to a gaggle of reporters on Saturday, May 30 in Nashville, Austin Dillon – the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for RCR and the grandson of team owner Richard Childress – was non-committal on what the future held for the car, but expressed confidence in Hill.
“Look, I think that’s a decision that will be made over time,” Dillon said. “But I know one thing – I’m excited for Austin Hill because I think he’s a dog. I’m ready to go to war with him and go out there, as my teammate, and battle with him. If there’s any questions about that, he’s qualified.”
Busch died at the age of 41 on May 21 due to what his family called complications from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis. Busch’s death certificate revealed that been battling bacterial pneumonia for “days to weeks” before he died. The death certificate also noted that he has since been cremated in Mooresville, North Carolina. No details for a funeral or memorial service have been made public.
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The sudden death of Busch shook NASCAR in a way that it perhaps hasn’t experienced since Dale Earnhardt died in a crash at the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt, the winner of seven Cup Series championships and one of the most iconic drivers the sport has ever had, also drove for RCR.
Dillon – who now pilots the No. 3 that Earnhardt made famous – was just 10 years old when the Intimidator died. Now 25 years later, he’s watching his grandfather’s racing team go through similar emotions all over again.
“The longer I do this, the more I learn what the family aspect of RCR is,” Dillon said Saturday in first public comments since Busch’s death. “It was obviously one of the toughest weeks of RCR’s history. Being a part of that from my side, for the first time, really being able to understand what everybody’s going through, it was hard, and it’s going to be hard. But the people that we have at RCR are the ones that I would want to go through this with.”
Asked how his grandfather is dealing with the loss of Busch, Dillon said: “Obviously, it’s been very hard for him. But he’s a very resilient person, as everyone knows, and he’s got that cowboy brand that he likes to show everybody – but he’s also got a soft side. I think it’s been pretty wearing on him.”
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The 80-year-old Childress has not spoken publicly since Busch’s death, but is expected to do so next weekend at Michigan ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400.
Busch was in his fourth season driving for RCR after spending the previous 15 years of his career with Joe Gibbs Racing. While he won the Truck Series race at Dover just six days before his death, Busch hadn’t taken the checkered flag in a Cup Series race since June 4, 2023 at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
Despite the winless streak at the Cup level, Busch was still one of NASCAR’s premier talents, capable of winning races and attracting top-level sponsors. The two-time Cup Series champion was marketable and had prime years remaining on the track. No driver had more combined victories across NASCAR’s top three national touring series than Busch’s 234. All of those reasons are why it was likely that RCR would have tried to work with Busch on a contract extension this season as his deal was expiring.
And now – just as it did 25 years ago – RCR has to replace one of the most recognizable and supremely talented drivers the sport has ever seen.
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“Kyle Busch, his character, would’ve wanted all of us to do what we could to get back to victory lane and to work as hard as possible,” Dillon said. “I knew what he cared about and that was being here on Sunday, racing as hard as he could for his guys, for himself, for his family, to try and create history in this sport. We have a great opportunity to do that here at RCR, to go back out there and make him proud.”
For now, Hill will continue to pilot the car previously driven by Busch. Last weekend at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600, he finished 27th, a lap down.
The 32-year-old from Winston, Georgia, has raced part-time in the Cup Series since 2022, making 18 starts. Hill’s best finish at the top level of NASCAR came last year in the Chicago Street Course race, where he placed ninth.
Hill does have an accomplished record in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series. In the O’Reilly Series, he’s finished in the top six in points in each of the last four seasons and has 15 wins. He also has eight victories in the Truck Series.
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The only other in-house option that RCR has in its stable is Jesse Love, who competes full-time for the team in the O’Reilly Series. The 21-year-old from California has seven Cup Series starts in his career, but has never finished better than 24th. But last year in the O’Reilly Series, he won two races and had seven other top-five finishes to claim the championship in the second-tier competition. Love placed second in the O’Reilly race in Charlotte last weekend, losing to Ross Chastain in a rain-shortened race.
For now, it seems that RCR and Dillon are throwing their support behind Hill in the No. 33 car in the Cup Series.
“Austin Hill is a grizzly bear, man. You’ve seen what he’s been able to do in the (O’Reilly) Series. … He doesn’t take any crap out there on the track. In this series, when you’re coming into something like he is right now, you’ve got to be that guy,” Dillon said. “I’m excited to work with him, excited to see his development and we’re going to do what we can to make everybody proud. We owe it to the No. 8 team – now the No. 33 team – those guys have been through a lot this year.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Austin Dillon confident in Austin Hill as he drives Kyle Busch’s car
