It almost happened at Sonoma Raceway in July, but one of them failed to qualify. Then it did happen at Watkins Glen International.
For the first time in NASCAR Xfinity Series history, two drivers named Austin Hill competed in the same race.
While one Hill has become somewhat of a NASCAR villain in recent weeks, specifically after wrecking Aric Almirola at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and then triggering a 16-car pileup with an ill-advised move on Michael McDowell at Watkins Glen, another Austin Hill flew somewhat under the radar and scored a solid top 20 finish in his Xfinity Series debut.
Austin Hill, officially Austin J. Hill to avoid confusion when he competes, is an 18-year-old native of Frankfort, Ohio, and he has no relation to the Richard Childress Racing driver.
After failing to qualify for the Sonoma race behind the wheel of the No. 35 Chevrolet for Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, he made his series debut with the team at Watkins Glen behind the wheel of the program's No. 53 Chevrolet and scored a solid 20th place finish. But he will not be back this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
Austin Hill replacement confirmed for Daytona
Set to be behind the wheel of the No. 53 car in this weekend's Wawa 250 is the team owner himself, Joey Gase. Gase has made 10 starts for the team so far this year, including six in the No. 53 car, and his best finish of the season came at Daytona to open up the year, when he placed 15th.
Gase is set to pull double duty this weekend, as he is also set to make his second Cup Series start of the year, and first behind the wheel of the No. 44 Chevrolet for NY Racing Team since he matched the best finish in team history last summer with a 20th place effort at Daytona.
As for Austin J. Hill, he is set to compete twice more this year, first next weekend at Portland International Raceway and then in October at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. He is set to drive the No. 35 car at both tracks. Depending on how many cars are on the entry list, he may once again risk failing to qualify.
The other Austin Hill is set to be behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet, as usual, and is also set to pull double duty this weekend, as he is set to drive the No. 33 car for Richard Childress' team in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
He is a three-time Daytona winner but did not win the 2025 season opener and has never won the track's summer race. He has scored three wins so far this year, including two in drafting races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The superspeedway specialist has 13 career wins, with nine coming in drafting races.
The CW Network's live coverage of the Wawa 250 is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 22. If you have not yet had a chance to start a free trial of FuboTV, do so today and don't miss any of the action from Daytona International Speedway!