Austin J. Hill, who is not related to Richard Childress Racing's Austin Hill, made his third start of the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season and second with Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen this past weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway behind the wheel of the No. 53 Chevrolet.
He also competed for the team at Circuit of the Americas in February, albeit in the No. 35 Chevrolet.
Hill, who made his O'Reilly Series debut with the same team at Watkins Glen International in 2025 and recorded a 20th place finish, was knocked out of the Gateway race late with an electrical issue. His COTA race ended with an early suspension issue.
Hill's only other start this year came with Barrett-Cope Racing at Phoenix Raceway in March, and they have since shut down their operations. With no more starts lined up for him with Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen this year, Hill does not currently have plans to return to the series in 2026.
Austin J. Hill replacement confirmed at Bristol
This weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, it's Carson Ware who is set to return to the No. 53 Chevrolet for the second time this year. Ware has made two starts for the team this year, including one in the No. 53 car, in addition to three starts with other teams.
His first start in the No. 53 car came in the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway in late August, and he finished 24th. His top finish of the year also came at Daytona, but it was with Barrett-Cope Racing in the season opener back in February. He finished 19th, which is a career-best.
His other start with Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen came behind the wheel of the No. 35 Chevrolet in June at Pocono Raceway, where he finished 27th. His two starts with Team Stange Racing with Mike Harmon Racing at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) and Iowa Speedway both resulted in DNFs.
The Food City 300 is set to be shown live on the CW Network from Bristol Motor Speedway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET this Friday evening. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!
Add us as a preferred source on Google