Austin Hill to return to RCR in 2026
WELCOME, N.C. — Austin Hill will return to Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 Chevrolet with longtime sponsor Bennett Transportation for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season.
Hill will return to the ride he has earned 14 wins, 51 top-five finishes and 83 top-10 finishes in 131 NOAPS races, spanning four seasons. Coming into his fifth season, Hill is looking to contend for a championship in the final race for the second time in his career and to bounce back from a 2025 season that had the potential to be so much better than it turned out to be.
Behind the JR Motorsports duo of Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier, Hill was one of the best drivers of the 2025 NOAPS season and had a chance to join the JRM duo in the Championship 4.
Then, Indianapolis happened. Hill made contact with Aric Almirola in turn three and proceeded to right-rear hook him head-on into the outside wall. After ruling the contact was intentional, NASCAR suspended Hill for a race and took away all 21 of his playoff points.
MORE: Austin Hill suspended by NASCAR for Indy incident
Although Hill made the playoffs, he missed out on advancing by exactly 21 points.
Hill closed out the season the season with four finishes of 12th or better, including his fourth win of the season — at Talladega in October.
Ultimately, Hill ended the season with four wins, 13 top-fives, 18 top-10s and an average finish of 12.6. He finished sixth in points while teammate Jesse Love took the title.
Love and Hill are going into their third year as teammates. They have competed head-to-head with each other in 65 races, with Hill coming out ahead in 36 races. Their head-to-head stats are as follows in that timespan:
- Race Wins: Austin Hill (8), Jesse Love (3)
- Top-Fives: Austin Hill (24), Jesse Love (15)
- Top-10s: Austin Hill (38), Jesse Love (39)
- Average Finish: Austin Hill (12.1), Jesse Love (11.7)
A championship still eludes Hill, who made the Championship 4 in 2024. He ultimately finished fourth in the point standings.
NOAPS returns Feb. 14 at the Daytona International Speedway on The CW, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and the Motor Racing Network.
RCR has won the last four NOAPS season-opening races at Daytona. Love won last year while Hill won the three years before.
Categories
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com