1. Is a Cup Series promotion imminent for Austin Hill?
On April 5, it was announced that Austin Hill will run four NASCAR Cup Series races with Richard Childress Racing this season, starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
Hill currently sits second in NASCAR Xfinity Series points and has won eight races in the series since joining RCR in 2022. While six of his eight wins have come on the drafting tracks of Atlanta Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway, Hill has transformed into a week-in, week-out contender, as he won the Xfinity regular season championship and recorded 16 top-five finishes last season.
He has put together an impressive resume while driving RCR’s No. 21, and what’s notable is that the upcoming race at Texas will mark his first start with RCR’s Cup team since his debut at Michigan International Speedway in 2022. Hill instead ran five Cup races in Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 last year, with a best finish of 14th at Daytona in August.
Could this partial schedule with RCR be a sign that Hill is getting ready for a Cup run in 2025? He certainly has the Xfinity results, and with his 30th birthday on April 21, there isn’t a lot of time to wait.
But if Hill is promoted to a full-time Cup ride at RCR, something has to give. Kyle Busch clearly isn’t going anywhere, and Austin Dillon seems to have his seat for as long as he wants it. To make room for him, the team would either have to purchase a third charter or have Dillon elect to retire.
Hill is a good enough prospect that RCR doesn’t want him to walk to another team. But with the news of Stewart-Haas Racing potentially selling charters and a logjam for RCR’s Cup lineup, it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out in the upcoming months.
2. With the Next Gen woes on short tracks, is NASCAR in need of another 1.5-mile track?
Let’s face it: The Next Gen car has been an absolute bust on the short tracks.
What was a problem that should’ve been rectified immediately after the first race at Martinsville Speedway in April 2022 has instead lingered on for over two years. It’s been bad enough that some people are glad that there won’t be another short track until June, which is a thought that seemed incomprehensible to someone in 2021.
Does that mean NASCAR should throw in the towel on short tracks? Hell. Freakin’. No. The Xfinity cars and the first 73 years of Cup cars have shown that the tracks…
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