Entering the race weekend at the Chicago Street Course, there was no guarantee that Austin Hill would even get to compete in the Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Series race.
For the first time since the race at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2018, there were more cars on the entry list for a non-Daytona 500 race than spots available in the 40-car field, and with Hill set to drive one of the five non-chartered (open) entries, he was not locked in.
He had to battle it out in qualifying with Kaulig Racing's Will Brown, Garage 66's Josh Bilicki, 23XI Racing's Corey Heim, and Live Fast Motorsports' Katherine Legge.
Many fans predicted that the DNQ battle would come down to Bilicki and Legge, since Kaulig Racing, 23XI Racing, and Richard Childress Racing are all full-time teams with multiple cars. However, it was one of those teams that ended up being the odd team out, with Heim making contact with the wall during qualifying and failing to get into the race.
Hill, however, comfortably made it into the field, and his success did not stop there.
The driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet placed ninth in Sunday's race, marking his first career top 10 finish in 12 Cup Series starts. It was his first top 20 finish since he placed 14th at Daytona International Speedway in August 2023 for Beard Motorsports.
Impressively, it was the best finish for Richard Childress Racing's No. 33 car since that car still ran full-time in 2011, with Clint Bowyer behind the wheel for a season-ending sixth place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The car did not run from 2016 to 2021, but it did run part-time from 2012 to 2015 before returning in 2022 and running select races each year since. In all the years it ran post-2011, its best finish prior to Hill's effort on Sunday was 11th place, a result recorded by Austin Dillon at Michigan International Speedway in 2013.
The No. 33 Chevrolet is indeed set to return later this year, but not this weekend at Sonoma Raceway. The only open car on the entry list for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 is Legge's No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports entry.
As of now, Richmond Raceway is set to mark the next appearance of the No. 33 Chevrolet, albeit with Jesse Love behind the wheel instead of Hill. Love has made two starts in the car so far this season, the more recent of which coming at Kansas Speedway in May. The Richmond race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 16.
This Sunday afternoon's Toyota/Save Mart 350 is set to be shown live on TNT Sports from Sonoma Raceway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.