Austin Hill

One of the top candidates for Rookie of the Year in the Xfinity Series is Richard Childress Racing newcomer Hill. He makes the jump from a successful truck series career and into this higher division of NASCAR. In just the last three seasons alone, Hill grabbed eight victories and 45 Top-10 finishes in the trucks. He'll settle into one of RCR's Chevrolets and battle it out in this highly competitive division of NASCAR. We don't know some of the team details at the time of this writing, but they'll be sorted out by the time the green flag waves at Daytona. Hill is undeniably talented and should hit the ground running for this strong race team.

Hill was clearly the driver to beat for the championship last season. He had a strong campaign posting two wins and 17 Top-10 finishes. However, a bit of bad luck over the final two races would take him out of championship contention. It was a bitter pill to swallow given the good season. Hattori Racing will put 26-year-old back behind the wheel of the team's Toyota in 2021. Over the last two season's Hill has averaged three wins and 15 Top-10 finishes. That level of performance easily slots him in to the championship contender category. Hill and crew chief Scott Zipadelli will look to claim more victories in the upcoming season and strive for more consistency. That's what it's going to take to win that elusive Camping World Truck Series crown.

It would take Hill a little time to get some traction with his new race team last season. After a cold start he would come on strong down the stretch to be one of the hottest drivers of the last eight races of last season. Hill grabbed three of his four victories in those final eight events, including the win in the season finale at Homestead. However, it wasn't enough to advance into the final round of the playoffs and Hill would finish fifth in the final driver standings. His Top 5 and Top 10 totals reflected two cold spells in the first half the year and came in at 7 and 13 respectively. The 6 DNF's that the team suffered affected those totals too. Hill returns to this team in 2020 and will once again be paired with crew chief Scott Zipadelli. The duo should up the ante in the upcoming season, and display more consistency as they throw their hats in the ring for the championship.

The 24-year-old Georgian gets a major team upgrade in 2019. Hill takes over the championship-winning ride at Hattori Racing. This was the truck that Brett Moffitt piloted to six wins and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series title last season. Hill is coming off his best season of truck series racing at Young's Motorsports last year. He collected six Top-10 finishes and wound up a respectable 11th in the overall driver standings with this small race team. Hill will now team with crew chief, Scott Zipadelli, and attempt to hang onto the performance that Moffitt posted with this outfit last year. This young driver won't post six wins and a championship, but he should make a pretty big splash in 2019.

Last year was a part-time effort by Hill at the Young's Motorsports team, but they'll be going full-time in the upcoming season. The No. 02 truck was split between a handful of drivers, but Hill will have the driver's seat all to himself in 2018. The team would grab three Top-10 finishes last season, and one of those was credited to Hill at Kentucky Speedway. In his 12 starts he nabbed five Top-15 finishes in addition to the Top 10. That's a pretty good base to build on for this season. Hill will enjoy the leadership of Chad Kendrick atop the pit box, and look to improve in his first full-time schedule.