Austin Hill did not expect to take over one of NASCAR’s most recognizable rides under these circumstances. After Kyle Busch’s death in May, Hill was asked to take over his Cup car days before the Coca-Cola 600. Months later, he has explained how he approached a responsibility that never felt like his own.
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“I just always felt like every time I got in that race car, it was not my race car. I wanted to show the entire race team that I’m going to do everything I can to do the best job that I can with this race car,” Hill told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“But at the end of the day, I didn’t want it to show that it had anything to do with it being my race team and that it was Kyle’s team throughout the rest of the season,” he added.
Busch died on May 21, 2026, at 41, after severe pneumonia led to sepsis. Hill was a longtime RCR driver in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, not a regular Cup replacement.
RCR changed the entry from No. 8 to No. 33, reserving Busch’s familiar number for his son, Brexton, when he is ready to race in NASCAR. Hill drove the same Chevrolet, but the change made clear that RCR did not view the seat as a simple succession.
Although the primary door number was now 33, RCR placed a No. 8 memorial decal near the driver’s window. Hill said he tapped it before climbing in each weekend and offered a quiet prayer.
The gesture reflected Hill’s approach: do right by the crew without making the season about his own breakthrough.
“The rest of the season, everything that I was doing on the racetrack was for Kyle, was for his entire family,” he said.
Charlotte made that responsibility substantially heavier. The Busch family attended the Coca-Cola 600, where the field formed a missing-man formation, leaving an open place for Busch on the front row, and fans saluted him on Lap 8.
Hill finished 27th, one lap down, in a race shortened by rain. Daniel Suárez won for Spire Motorsports. Yet Hill remembered thinking less about the result than about Samantha Busch and the couple’s children, Brexton and Lennix.
RCR faced a similar decision after Dale Earnhardt died in the 2001 Daytona 500. Kevin Harvick took over in the No. 29, while Earnhardt’s No. 3 stayed out of Cup competition until it returned with Austin Dillon in 2014. The circumstances differed, but RCR again had to keep racing while protecting a driver’s legacy.
Hill remained in the No. 33 through 2026 while balancing Cup races with his O’Reilly schedule. RCR announced in August that he would drive it full-time in the Cup Series in 2027.
Hill said the weekends grew easier as the team found a rhythm. Then came another recognition. On November 10, Busch was named the 2026 National Motorsports Press Association Most Popular Driver, becoming the first posthumous Cup winner since Earnhardt in 2001.
Chase Elliott withdrew from consideration after eight straight wins and urged fans to support Busch.
“But us sitting here talking about Kyle, it’s really, really cool to see that he was able to get the Most Popular Driver Award,” Hill said.
For Hill, the award showed how Busch’s influence reached beyond the results sheet. The No. 33 now has a future with Hill, but the number he tapped before climbing in remains tied to the man he was asked to honor.