Austin Hill earned his first top 10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series with a ninth-place showing Sunday on the Chicago Street Course.

Photo: Sophia LaRiche/TRE

Hill, a veteran of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, collected his first top-10 after starting 30th in the Grant Park 165. It was the 12th start of his Cup Series career and his second this year.

“The Cup Series isn’t easy,” Hill said. “To only have five races (in 2025) with the No. 33 team and leave with a top 10 finish is huge for our group.”

Prior to Sunday, Hill’s best Cup finish was 14th at Daytona in August 2023.

Statistically, Hill is the 1,073rd driver in series history to earn at least one top 10 finish — out of the 2,997 drivers who have made a points-awarding start since the series’ inception in 1949, according to Racing-Reference.

“I feel like I won the race honestly,” Hill said. “I was upset with finishing fourth (Saturday) in the Xfinity Series race, but to finish ninth in a Cup race feels like I won it.”

Hill’s team gained him track position with the strategy to stay out during the first stage and pit later on. A similar strategy helped Shane van Gisbergen get to victory lane but Hill also had to negotiate the chaos in the middle of the pack that swept away other drivers throughout the day.

“Hats off to RCR, ECR and everyone on this team. We put our heads together, called a great race, took tires when we needed to, and stayed out when we needed to. At the end, it was good enough to get up there and battle with the guys to finish inside the top 10,” Hill said.

Hill’s next race behind the wheel of the No. 33 car is scheduled for Daytona International Speedway in August.

Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.

From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book “All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story” with racer Geoff Bodine.

Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.

You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.