Austin Edward Hill (born April 21, 1994) is an American NASCAR Xfinity Series driver and former team owner. He currently drives the #21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing and the #33 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the same team in the NASCAR Cup Series. He previously owned Austin Hill Racing which competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series from 2013 to 2017.
Racing Career[]
Hill began racing when he was six years old, climbing the racing ladder through various disciplines such as Legend cars and Bandolero racing.
K&N Pro Series East[]
After competing in two races in 2012, Hill won his first K&N East race in 2013 despite only running five races that season. His first full season in the series (2014) started slow but ended well, winning the final two races to finish fifth in points. In 2015, driving for his family-owned team, he captured a pole, two wins and failed to finish only once, ending in third place in the standings. After moving to the Camping World Truck Series in 2016, he ran only one more race in the series, finishing ninth.
ARCA Menards Series[]
Hill debuted in the ARCA Menards Series in the 2015 season opener, avoiding crashes to finish just outside the top ten at Daytona International Speedway. He returned to the series in 2021, driving in a single race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in preparation for the Truck Series road course races later in the season. He drove for Hattori Racing Enterprises in the race.
Craftsman Truck Series[]
Hill debuted in 2014 with RBR Enterprises, finishing 26th at Martinsville and 20th at Homestead. In 2015, Hill drove for Empire Racing, posting a best finish of 16th at Dover in 4 starts.
In 2016, Hill announced he would run Daytona with Empire Racing, but then switch to his family-owned team for a part-time schedule. He failed to qualify for Daytona and four other races early in the season and had a best finish of 15th through the twelfth race of the year. He picked up his schedule in an entry bought out from Young's Motorsports, and began to experience more consistent success, leading to his first top-ten at Martinsville. Hill continued to drive a part-time schedule for Young's Motorsports in 2017, posting a 10th place finish at Kentucky and finishing 21st in Points.
In 2018, Hill ran his first full time Truck Series season, driving the #02 Chevrolet for Young's Motorsports. He posted one Top 5 at Texas, six Top 10s and failed to finish 3 races. He finished 11th in Points. At the time, Hill figured he would race long term for Young's Motorsports.
On January 8, 2019, Hill signed with Hattori Racing Enterprises to drive the #16 Toyota Tundra full time for the season. The deal was made after crew chief Scott Zipadelli reached out to Hill after previous driver (and defending series champion) Brett Moffitt departed the team. The team found immediate success, with Hill winning his first Truck Series race at Daytona. He went on to set a new track record for Trucks at Pocono, winning the pole. He won the regular season finale at Michigan for his second career win, and won again in the playoff race at Las Vegas. Hill failed to advance to the Championship 4 round, but won the finale at Homestead, finishing 5th in points.
Hill returned to Hattori in 2020, scoring a win at Kansas and qualifying for the playoffs. He advanced to the Round of 8 with a win at Las Vegas, but an engine failure at Martinsville caused the team to miss the Championship 4 once again. He finished 6th in points.
In 2021, Hill raced with Hattori in his final full time Truck Series season (to date). He won at Knoxville and Watkins Glen, qualifying for the playoffs, but finishes of 12th, 23rd and 24th in the Round of 10 prevented the team from advancing out of the first round of the playoffs. He finished 9th in points.
Xfinity Series[]
On June 16, 2019, it was announced that Hill would make his Xfinity Series debut at the Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona for Hattori Racing Enterprises, driving the #61 Toyota Supra. He missed the race after his car suffered drive line issues that prevented him from setting a qualifying time. He later debuted at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he used the high groove to score a ninth place finish.
Hill and Hattori Racing Enterprises continued their part-time Xfinity Schedule in 2020 and 2021, with Hill scoring one Top 5 and two Top 10s in 2020 and a single Top 10 in 2021.
On October 29, 2021, Hill was announced as a full-time driver for Richard Childress Racing for the 2022 season. He scored his first career win at Daytona after passing AJ Allmendinger on the final lap of the race. Hill led the most laps and scored his second career win at his home track of Atlanta in July. After qualifying for the playoffs, Hill was eliminated following the Round of 8 after finishing ninth at Martinsville as a result of a collision with Myatt Snider. Following the race, Hill punched Snider in the face on pit road. He finished 6th in points and won the Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year award.
In 2023, Hill won his second straight season opener at Daytona. He also scored wins at Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Pocono. He qualified for the playoffs but failed to advance to the Championship 4, finishing fifth in points.
In 2024, Hill made history by winning his third straight season opener at Daytona. In the next race at Atlanta, his team used fuel strategy to win his second race in a row. At Charlotte, while racing Cole Custer for fifth place, contact between the two cars blew a right front tire on Hill's car. They both crashed in turn 1, and Hill, showing displeasure for how he was raced, locked bumpers with Custer's car and left-reared Custer's damaged car on the backstretch, which sent him into the inside wall. Hill was fined $25,000 and docked 25 points. He is currently qualified for the 2024 playoffs.
Cup Series[]
On August 2, 2022, RCR announced that Hill would make his Cup Series debut in the #33 at Michigan. He finished 18th.
In 2023, Hill attempted to make the 2023 Daytona 500 with Beard Motorsports, but failed to make the field after a late crash resulted in an 18th-place finish in the second race of the 2023 Bluegreen Vacation Duels. He later ran 5 more races that season, scoring a best finish of 14th at the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Hill returned to the #33 for multiple races in 2024.