Richard Childress has provided some clarity about the No. 33 Chevrolet, which the team moved to after Kyle Busch passed away on May 21 at the age of 41.
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The championship-winning team owner confirmed that the current plan is to have one driver in the entry for the rest of the season. He and Richard Childress Racing do not plan on swapping back and forth between Austin Hill and Jesse Love while filling out the rest of the 36-race schedule.
"We talked about it, and we decided that Austin Hill was who we needed to put in it at this time," Childress said at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. "...Right now we're looking at the rest of the season, and our sponsors have been great to work with to work through this.
"Just like we had with Dale (Earnhardt in 2001), the sponsors worked really good with us with that loss, and so putting Austin Hill in it was a choice that we made."
Richard Childress Racing turned to Hill for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which took place only three days after Busch's sudden passing. The full-time O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver took over the renumbered Chevrolet as RCR put the No. 8 on the shelf for the immediate future.
Hill has remained in the No. 33. He drove the entry at Nashville Superspeedway last weekend, and he will do so once again this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
This will also be the plan moving forward. The team has another driver with Cup Series experience in Love, but the defending O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion is unlikely to take over the entry.
"Yeah, I mean, for right now, you know, Austin is going to drive, as far as we're concerned, the rest of the year," Childress added. "We don't want to put a burden back on everybody trying to go from one driver to the other one."
Keeping Hill in the No. 33 for the rest of the season will answer one lingering question. The other question will focus on the driver of the entry in 2027 and beyond. Richard Childress Racing will provide those details at a later date.
