Less than two months ago, Connor Zilisch had a solid competitor. Austin Hill had left a blazing trail across the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ first 21 races, picking up three trophies. He also had 12 top tens and 9 top fives, accruing 21 playoff points in total. However, Hill lost all his earned credibility after a nasty entanglement with Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Considering the tremendous blow it made to his playoff chances, Hill still has a solid resolve.

JR Motorsports went to Victory Lane again at Gateway, with Connor Zilisch hoisting the checkered flag. Meanwhile, Austin Hill finished in 12th place, a decent finish; he also accrued two top fives since his Indianapolis penalty. That proves he still has the championship drive – and Hill recently acknowledged that.

Austin Hill is clenching his teeth now

The aggressive maneuvers of Richard Childress’ Xfinity star are well known. He got into a heated conflict with Shane van Gisbergen at COTA in 2024. During the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race on July 26, however, the incident seemed worse. In retaliation for Aric Almirola’s nudge, Hill sharply bumped Almirola’s right-rear fender, turning him into the wall nose-first. As a result, NASCAR held him for five laps in the pits for rough driving and subsequently suspended him for the Xfinity race at Iowa. The latter action axed Hill’s playoff points and cast a dark cloud over his 2025 championship chances. The No. 21 RCR driver at least got a playoff waiver to start over his season’s chances again. And Hill is back with greater power.

If anything, the playoff blow made Austin Hill clench his teeth. In a recent interview with journalist Joseph Srigley, Hill initially attempted to soften his words. “You know, I think it’s just one of those things where NASCAR has to take a stance, and they did. I’m not mad at NASCAR for the decision that they made. They made the decision that they thought was right, whether it was right or wrong.” Due to that decision, Hill now stands five points below the elimination line, setting the stage for a desperate scramble at the upcoming race at Bristol. But Hill is composed for a fiery comeback.

Austin Hill issued a bold championship warning to his Xfinity Series rivals. He said, “For me, going into the playoffs and not having the playoff points and all that just kind of gave me a little bit more determination in these last several races before the playoffs had started. It kind of fired me up a little bit more, almost kind of made me angry in the sense. But not in the sense that I wanna go and rip everybody’s head off. I wanna show the world…what the 21 team’s capable of, what I’m capable of doing. And that’s to try to win a championship. And I think we can do that, no matter if our backs are against the wall or not.”

This iron resolve may see good fruit in Austin Hill’s 2025 journey. While Hill tackles his Xfinity path, his teammate in the Cup Series is struggling.

Confessing a well-known truth

For the last two years, a two-time Cup Series champion has been winless. That is none other than Kyle Busch, who is riding an 85-race winless streak. Fans and experts have racked their brains about why this is happening and have proposed many theories. But one persistent concept is Richard Childress’ faltering cars, which the team owner himself admitted in Dover earlier this year. And after Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300, Austin Dillon is also convinced about this theory. The No. 3 Chevrolet driver won his way into the playoffs in 2025, defending his 2024 Richmond victory. But retaining that playoff spot is getting increasingly difficult for him.

Austin Dillon slipped from 15th at the start to 18th by the finish, which barely helped his position below the cutline. He wanted to accrue points, but his car would not let him. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch also finished with a lackluster 22nd-place finish. That is why Austin Dillon could not hold his silence longer. “Quit telling me how to drive. I’m driving a piece of s**t. I’m trying to hang onto it,” he said over the radio. He stuck to his opinion about RCR’s cars in the post-race interview: “We didn’t come here with a good race car for some reason. All of our cars were pretty off today; we just missed it…We got stage points and finished the best we possibly could right there. We outran our day by a lot, so hard work and execution gives us a shot at Bristol. Just feel like we’ve missed some opportunities and could be in a better position, but we did all we could today.”

Evidently, Richard Childress’ fold is in the doldrums at present. Let’s wait and see whether Austin Hill can pull himself out of this misery or not.