Each week, The Athletic asks the same 12 questions to a different race car driver. Up next: Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, whose season has transformed into full-time double duty between his original ride in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and an unexpected job replacing the late Kyle Busch in what is now RCR’s renumbered No. 33 Cup Series car. This interview has been edited for length and clarity, but the full version is available on the 12 Questions Podcast.1. Do you typically arrive for things early, late or on time, and why?I am either an on-time or late person. If I’m early, that’s kind of rare. I have this really bad issue with scheduling things back-to-back, so I always think I have plenty of time to make it to the next thing I’m going to, and then I end up being 10 or 15 minutes late.I hate being late to things, so I’m normally coming in on two wheels, hauling the mail, just trying to get there on time.2. What is the pettiest thing that annoys you during a race weekend?(Standing around before) driver introductions. I don’t know why, but it just irks me. Normally Sam (Jones, his public relations representative) and I roll in right before we’re being called. There have been a few times where, if I’m going off 10th, we roll in and they’re calling like 14th or 15th, and I just roll up and go.I’m just the type of person where you’re about to go out there and race against these guys and you’re not really technically supposed to be buddy-buddy with everybody. Not me, anyway. So why do I want to get up there and sit there mingling with all of them for 30 minutes while we’re waiting on introductions, and then we go out there and get mad at each other on the racetrack?3. What is something you’ve learned to stop explaining to people?I live by the motto that there’s never a dumb question. I always try to explain everything to anyone who asks me something. Even if the question is way off the charts crazy, I still try to explain it. So I don’t know if there’s really anything where I’m like, “You know what? I’m done trying to explain myself.” I always try to put it into the best perspective possible, even if somebody still doesn’t understand where I’m coming from.“I live by the motto that there’s never a dumb question,” Austin Hill says. “I always try to explain everything to anyone who asks me something.” (James Gilbert / Getty Images)4. If you could go back to the early days before you reached NASCAR, what is one different decision you wish you had made?I’d probably put a little bit more effort and emphasis into media training and getting to know sponsors sooner than I did. I was the type of kid growing up who focused on driving the race car and going fast and turning left.When I got thrown into the (Hattori Racing Enterprises Truck Series) deal back in 2019, I felt like I was starting from scratch and had to work really hard at (media obligations). Then coming over to RCR, they had me doing way more stuff than I’d ever done before. I was really bad at it.5. What is it like to be in a debrief after a bad race?That’s a tricky question because it depends if the boss man RC (Richard Childress) is in there or not. If RC is in there, you’re kind of like, “Yes sir, we’ll do a better job.” You leave there like a sad puppy dog with your tail tucked between your legs.But when it’s just our guys, I feel like we’ve always done a really good job. Whether it was the 21 team or now the 33 team, we’re very straightforward about what we need to do better. Whether it’s the driver, pit crew, crew chief or engineer. We always say we win as a team and lose as a team. We don’t point fingers.But if I did something wrong, I want somebody to tell me. If I could’ve had a better restart and finished better, I want to hear that. Honestly, some of our bad-finish debriefs are some of our best debriefs because they help us get better for the next weekend.6. I’m asking each person a pair of wild card questions, one about the past and one about the present. Looking back to May, you were in an incredibly difficult position having to replace Kyle Busch in the days after his death. How did you get through that weekend and what was your mindset in all of it?For starters, I called Kevin Harvick (who replaced Dale Earnhardt Sr. after his fatal accident in 2001). We had a very good conversation. I figured he’s one of the only people in our sport who’s gone through something similar, so I wanted his input and wanted to hear how he approached it.I also leaned on everybody at RCR. I talked with Richard. I was just trying to figure out the best way to go about everything.The No. 1 thing that I kept going back to was that I didn’t want it to be about me at all. I didn’t want anyone to even know I was driving the race car. When the decision was made to take the No. 8 off and put the 33 on it, I was all for it. I said, “Look, I don’t want anything that’s going to potentially make it look bad for Kyle or his family.”Then they brought up putting my name on the car. I said, “I don’t think we should put my name on the car.” I said if you don’t want Kyle’s name on it, we should do it blank. I even kind of pushed for not having my name on it for the rest of the season.At the end of the day, we’re several weeks out, but this is still Kyle’s race team. This is still his race car that he should be racing this weekend, next weekend and the weekend after that. I never wanted it to be about me.I thought everything was handled the best way possible with the circumstances. The main thing I keep going back to is (Busch’s wife) Samantha and (Busch’s children) Brexton and Lennix, and how they’re transitioning through all of this.I was fortunate enough to see them Tuesday night at the Summer Shootout (where Brexton is racing this summer). We had some great conversations. They seem like they’re doing OK. They’re just trying to push forward. Brexton, for him to be the age he is, he’s handling it better than I would’ve at that age. Honestly, it’s hard to say you look up to an 11-year-old, but I kind of do because of how well he’s handling all of it.It hasn’t been easy. Even this weekend going into Chicagoland, it’s not easy strapping into the race car because in the back of my mind, I know I’m not supposed to be the one running this race. That’s supposed to be Kyle. That’s the one thing I’m still hung up about as the driver.Richard Childress Racing unloads Kyle Busch’s carJordan Bianchi7. In terms of the present, the amount you’re doing right now with all the Cup races, O’Reilly races, simulator work and three kids at home, how are you managing everything right now?There’s definitely been some cliffs and valleys. My body is kind of going through a roller coaster; I’m not going to sugarcoat it.After road course weekends, it takes me Monday and Tuesday just to get back to feeling normal. Running back-to-back races every week isn’t easy for several weekends in a row. If it were just an occasional double-duty weekend like a lot of Cup guys do, it’d be different. But doing it every week, I’ve had to change a lot of things.My diet is the first thing. I’ve never been the greatest with what I eat. I’m trying to do better because I want to recover faster. My fluid intake has basically doubled. I’ve always been good about sodium, but I realized really quickly I needed even more.Right now it’s a seven-day-a-week job. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are simulator days for both Cup and O’Reilly. Monday is debrief day. That’s actually hard because the Cup debriefs and O’Reilly meetings happen at the same time. I’m in all the Cup meetings in person, then toward the end I call into the O’Reilly meeting. That puts me at a disadvantage trying to do both, but we’re handling it the best we can.Our lives have changed a lot. My kids are used to me being home on Sundays. That was our lake day, our pool day. We don’t really have that right now. My littlest one, Barrett, just the other day said, “Hey Dad, let’s go do …” whatever it was. I said, “No, Dad’s got to work.” He goes, “You’re always working.” I said, “Yeah, Dad’s always working right now.”8. If you could get any driver’s helmet in the history of motorsports, whose would it be?Growing up, I was a massive Jeff Gordon fan. I had the rainbow suit as my Halloween costume. I came to the racetrack at Atlanta and Talladega dressed like Jeff Gordon trying to get his autograph.Basically from the time I was two or three years old until now, I’m still a huge Jeff Gordon fan. Any time I see him at the racetrack, I still get a little starstruck. If I could get one of his rainbow helmets, that would kind of complete my childhood, because he was my idol and still is.Have you ever told him that?Yeah, we had a pretty good conversation one time at Bristol when I was running the K&N Series. I gave him a spiel about how “you’re my guy” and fanboyed for a minute. My mom took pictures and videos of the conversation.9. When things are not going well, do you prefer people leave you alone or check in on you?I’d want the majority of people to leave me alone. I’m the type of person who handles things better by myself. I’m not going to go sit in a dark room curled up in a ball, but the way my brain works is a little different: When somebody is constantly checking on me and asking how I’m doing … that happened with the Kyle situation. Everybody checked on me.It was great at the beginning, but eventually I got to the point where I was like, “Guys, I’m fine. Just let me be.” The more it gets brought up, the more it irks me a little bit. I’m that way with anything.Austin Hill celebrates with a Kyle Busch No. 8 hat after winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Naval Base Coronado. (Chris Graythen / Getty Images)10. What is something about yourself that would surprise people who think they know you?I’ve been told by a few people very close to me that the way I care about people is probably a lot greater than most people realize. I’ve got a really big heart.On the racetrack it looks different; I look like the a—hole. I look like the guy who doesn’t care. But I don’t really want to be that guy. That’s just kind of the perception, and I’ve rolled with it. It doesn’t bother me a whole lot.But if I left the track to go to dinner and somebody was broken down on the side of the road, I’d stop and help them. I’d give them the shirt off my back if I had to. Nobody really sees that side of race driver Austin Hill.11. What is something you laugh about now that was absolutely not funny at the time?For whatever reason, the Sheldon Creed incident at Martinsville (in 2023) pops right into my head. At the time, it was not funny. We both missed the playoffs, and then I had that ridiculous interview. I wish I’d never done it. I was not in the right headspace.Sheldon reminds me of it all the time. He’ll say, “Yeah, your interview was pretty crappy.” I’m like, “Yeah, thanks for reminding me, bud.”Now we can laugh about it. We can have some beers and joke about it. We’ve actually sat at my house and watched the video together while doing commentary over it. It was pretty funny. At the time, though, it definitely wasn’t.12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Erik Jones, and he says: “I’m really curious what his goals for his career are. Does he see himself racing in O’Reilly long-term like he has been, or does he hope this Cup opportunity brings him full-time into the Cup level? He’s had such a grind to get to this point, what does he feel the next step is?”I’d say after these last several weeks, and after things have calmed down a little bit, I’ve kind of transitioned gears. I’ve always told myself I’d go run Cup one day, but only if it was the right opportunity. If the right opportunity presented itself — whether at RCR or somewhere else — I would love to go run Cup for two or three years and really give myself a shot at it.I don’t think you can figure it out in one year. I think you need two or three solid years to try it and grind it out. These Cup drivers are so good. The teams are so good. Everybody’s so close in speed. I’d love the opportunity to run at that level and see how it turns out.I love where I’m at in the O’Reilly Series, but if there was ever a time to do it, now’s the time. I’m 32 years old. Like Erik said, I’ve been grinding it out in the O’Reilly Series for a long time. I kind of thought I’d be an O’Reilly Series lifer.But after these last several weeks, I’ve gained confidence in myself. I feel like I can run toe-to-toe with these guys. We’ve qualified well. We’ve shown really good speed. The finishes don’t really show how well we’ve run.The next interview is with Michael McDowell. Do you have a question I can ask him?I’ve always wanted to ask him: How does he do it? How does he make having five work? I have three kids, and we’re all living in the motorhome together every weekend. The motorhomes only get so big; 45 feet gets really small with three kids and my wife and me.I want to know how he juggles everything, because I don’t think I could have another two or three and make it work. I’d be so overwhelmed. I applaud him for it.