Austin Hill is having quite a season, isn’t he? The Richard Childress Racing driver secured back-to-back wins in his opening two Xfinity Series races and secured a third at Atlanta Motor Speedway later this year. With four races to go before the season ends, the 30-year-old is in contention for his first championship trophy and is setting his sights even higher with the hope of competing against NASCAR’s very best regularly.

The Georgia native has already made four Cup Series appearances this season but is hungry for more, making his ambitions abundantly clear ahead of the opening Round of Eight race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Austin Hill wants to test himself against NASCAR’s elite

Austin Hill is enjoying life at Richard Childress Racing. The No. 21 Chevy driver joined the team in 2022 and has seen tremendous improvement in the last few years. He finished sixth in his debut season and improved on that performance with a fifth-place result at the end of 33 races in NASCAR’s second tier. This time around, Hill is hoping to do even better and is currently third in the driver standings, nine points above the playoff cutline with just four races remaining.

Speaking in the pre-race press conference at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Austin Hill outlined his NASCAR ambitions by saying, “I would love to be able to run Cup one day with RCR you know. I don’t know if or when that would happen. Next year, we are looking at hopefully running some Cup races, got to still work out the details and stuff on that but we are planning on running at least a handful.” The Georgia native went on to say, “I really enjoy racing for someone like Richard Childress. Him and I have the same, you know, values. We go about things in the same manner for the most part so I hope to have a long career with RCR.”

Despite his reputation for being brash on the track, Austin Hill has shown tremendous consistency in the Xfinity Series this season. With 17 top-five results, it’s not surprising that the driver wants to compete at NASCAR’s highest level and challenge the likes of Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin. However, Hill’s results in the Cup Series haven’t matched up to the consistency he has displayed in the second tier, having finished not higher than 25th at Daytona International Speedway in the penultimate race of the regular season.

With a championship on the line, Austin Hill’s focus will be on finishing the ongoing Xfinity Series season strongly. If he remains in contention for the silverware at Phoenix Raceway, the 30-year-old will be making a good case for himself in the eyes of the RCR hierarchy to give him a chance in the Cup Series. Neither Kyle Busch nor Austin Dillon have made it to the playoffs this year, which could convince Richard Childress to take a gamble on Hill in the foreseeable future. Could Rowdy’s departure after 2025 pave the way for the Georgia native to get behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevy? Time will tell.

Richard Childress has faith in Austin Hill’s talent

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In the last few years, Austin Hill has built somewhat of a reputation on the racetrack. Known as the ‘Bearcat’, the Georgia native has developed a hard-racing old-school driving style and he isn’t afraid of rubbing his rivals the wrong way to get a result. While some may call him a ‘bully’, those within the Richard Childress Racing team believe that his hunger to succeed translates to a win-at-all-costs attitude. Even though he has cemented his place within the Xfinity Series ranks, those closest to him believe that Hill is destined for much more.

When asked about what quality Richard Childress likes in Austin Hill, the 79-year-old replied, “He races just to win. He wants to win. That’s why he is staying in Xfinity for a couple of years. He wants to be able to spend time with his family and watch his kids grow up on Sundays. I thought that was smart. But he has the talent to race in Cup but he wants to wait until he knows he can go there and be in a position to win races. But my favorite part is that he has that don’t pi-s me off attitude and I like that.”

Hill’s edgy personality may have won over Richard Childress, but it has also created problems on the track. Most notably, with friend and former teammate Sheldon Creed. Both the drivers were involved in a wreck at Martinsville, prompting Creed to say that Austin Hill received preferential treatment at RCR. The pair didn’t talk to each other for almost half a year until the matter was put to rest. If the 30-year-old aims to make it to the Cup Series, he will need to keep his competitive spirit alive and burning, to be able to go wheel-to-wheel against NASCAR’s best.