Maybe hoping to get the #33 car?
We still don’t know who will be behind the wheel of what was formerly the #8 car at Richard Childress Racing next season, after the untimely passing of Kyle Busch back in May.
Austin Hill has been the driver of the renumbered #33 car since Busch’s death, with RCR announcing that he would remain the full-time driver through the 2026 season. But so far, no plans have been announced for the team for 2027, so it’s not clear whether Hill will get the job to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time in his career.
Hill is currently competing for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship in the #21 car for RCR, his fifth full season for the team in NASCAR’s lower series. He’s managed to rack up 16 wins in the series in his career, with a best finish of 4th in the final points standings.
During his limited time in the Cup Series, Hill scored a career-best finish of 9th at the Chicago Street Course last season, and since stepping into the #33 car this season has a best finish of 18th at Pocono last month.
While it’s clear that Hill would love to get the call to remain the driver of the #33 car next year, so far RCR hasn’t made any announcement about the future of the team. When asked recently whether Hill would return next year, driver of the #3 car (and grandson of Richard Childress) Austin Dillon wouldn’t say much about the team’s plans:
“I think he’s doing a great job. … I’ll wait and let RCR make that call.”
It’s not clear who, other than Hill, would be in line for the job. Jesse Love currently drives for RCR in the O’Reilly Series, and was expected to be part of the team’s future Cup Series plans, but it was recently announced that Love would be driving for the Wood Brothers in the #21 car next season, which obviously takes him out of the running for the #33 car.
Another name that’s popped up for the seat, though, has been Noah Gragson.
The driver of the #4 car for Front Row Motorsports is having a pretty abysmal season so far, with a best finish of 9th in the season-opening Daytona 500 and currently sitting 30th in points, ahead of only 5 full-time Cup Series drivers. But Gragson is well-liked among fans, and also has a relationship with current RCR sponsor Bass Pro Shops.
So could Gragson be a candidate for the #33 car in 2027?
Well Noah and Chase Briscoe co-hosted the Dale Jr. Download podcast this week (those two are hilarious together, if you haven’t listened) and he may have dropped a hint about his future plans.
Last month during the street course race at Naval Base Coronado, Gragson had a run-in with former F1 driver Kevin Magnussen, who was driving for Trackhouse Racing during the race.
And afterwards, the two had a heated confrontation on pit road.
During the podcast this week, Gragson was asked about the altercation, and revealed that he didn’t want to escalate the confrontation because he was looking towards his future:
“I’m trying to get a job next year.”
So is that a hint that Gragson is hoping – or is already in talks with the team – to take over the #33 car next season? Or does he already know that he won’t be returning to Front Row Motorsports next season?
Gragson is, reportedly, on a one-year contract with his current team, so maybe he was just talking about hoping to get an extension in the #4 car. But other than the #33 car, there isn’t really another ride that would be available for Gragson in the Cup Series.
Honestly, I would love to see him get the opportunity with RCR. Noah’s a great driver, but he’s underperformed in cars that are behind the rest of the field. While it’s hard to say that RCR is a major improvement from FRM right now, I think Gragson would fit in well with the team and it may be his best opportunity to show that he belongs in the Cup Series.
I still think the job is probably Hill’s to lose, but given his comments this week, it sounds like Gragson might have his eye on the ride too.
