Had Austin Hill not gotten himself suspended for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway for hooking Aric Almirola in the right rear at Indianapolis Motor Speedway back in late July, he would be sitting ahead of the Championship 4 cut line following the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Instead, he finished the round of 12 sitting 21 points below the round of 8 cut line, eliminated from playoff contention since the 27 playoff points he would have taken into the playoffs from the regular season no longer counted following his suspension.
Hill is a superspeedway specialist, with 10 of his 13 career Xfinity Series victories coming at such tracks. He notably won at Talladega Superspeedway back in April, so Saturday's race at NASCAR's largest oval would have given him a great opportunity to lock into the Championship 4.
Austin Hill set for final NASCAR Cup start of 2025
While that is no longer an option, Hill is set to have two chances for success this weekend, as he is also set to compete in Sunday's 188-lap Cup Series race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked Lincoln, Alabama oval.
The YellaWood 500 is set to mark Hill's fifth and final start of the 2025 Cup Series season. Only one of his first four starts came in a superspeedway race, when he finished 30th at Daytona International Speedway back in August. His ninth place finish in the July race at the Chicago Street Course is notably the best finish for any driver of a No. 33 car since 2011.
The No. 33 Chevrolet is one of four part-time cars on the entry list this weekend, so all four are locked into the race.
Anthony Alfredo is set to pilot the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet for his first start since April, Casey Mears is set to pilot the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford for his first start since August, and B.J. McLeod is set to pilot the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, also for his first start since August.
Tune in to NBC at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 19 for the live broadcast of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss any of the action!