Even as NASCAR prepares for this year’s edition of the Chase, the dominoes of Silly Season continue to fall. Nowhere is this truer than with Richard Childress Racing (RCR).
For weeks, the question of who would fill the seat of the #33 RCR Chevrolet was on the mind of many, especially this writer at John Milner’s Track Talk. While there was plenty of speculation about who would be RCR’s second Cup driver in 2027, the discussion initially centered on whether Kyle Busch would return or head to greener pastures. With Busch’s tragic passing in May and RCR’s elevation of Austin Hill to the renumbered #33, that conversation changed. Would Hill remain in Cup and in the #33? Other names, including Noah Gragson and Josh Berry, began to enter the discussion. (Track Talk was not immune to speculating and imagining what the future of RCR and the #33 car might be.)
This past week, RCR made it official and announced that Hill would be moving up to the Cup Series full-time and will continue to be behind the wheel of the #33 in 2027. While it may not be as exciting as the announcement of a new face coming to RCR next year, it is the smart move. Hill has been with RCR ever since he came to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series to drive the #21 Chevrolet. He’s also driven the #33 Cup car for 15 races since Busch’s passing and therefore is well acquainted with the car and the team. While his average finish of 28th heading into this weekend’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 is nothing to write home about, Hill can use the remainder of the 2026 season to prepare for a better run in 2027.
With Hill heading to Cup and Jesse Love headed to the Wood Brothers in 2027, attention would have eventually turned to what happens to the RCR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program. Except that RCR waited a day or so to let the news of Hill’s promotion to Cup breathe and then followed up by announcing that they had signed Chandler Smith (#21) and Carson Brown (#2) to drive in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2027.
Chandler Smith will be a name familiar to fans of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Smith spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons in the series, winning three races. He spent 2025 and the current season with Front Row Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he has four wins and is third in the points standings.
Carson Brown is in his first full season in RCR’s development program and is competing in the ARCA series. He led every lap in his ARCA debut to win at Phoenix in March and has not logged a finish outside the top five in any of his eight starts this season. He finished 15th in his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Iowa earlier this year.
I’m not sure if the Smith/Brown duo is going to set the O’Reilly world on fire quite the way that Hill and Love have over the past couple of years. However, Brown, as the newcomer, could definitely benefit from having a mentor as well as a teammate in Smith. While it’s difficult to put too much stock in ARCA success (although Love made a seamless transition from one series to another), Brown could be worth keeping an eye on and Smith has become a proven winner in NASCAR’s lower series. Despite the criticism that RCR runs “crap equipment,” their O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program has remained strong and should continue to do so with Smith and Brown leading the program.
There is one remaining domino that could fall due to RCR’s recent announcements: Josh Berry. While the current driver of the #21 Wood Brothers Ford has certainly made a statement over the last few weeks that he deserves a ride somewhere in 2027, there seems to be an ever-shrinking number of rides available.
While one would assume he’d be holding out for a Cup ride, Berry got his start in NASCAR driving for JR Motorsports in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. For a moment, it looked like that might be where he would end up. Late this week, news broke that Sammy Smith would be leaving JR Motorsports at season’s end. Carson Kvapil, currently driving the #1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, was quickly named as the driver of the #8 car.
While Berry is a possible candidate for the ride, Sam Mayer, currently with Haas Factory Team but a former JR Motorsports driver, is also rumoured to be returning to his former ride. Could Smith head to Haas and Mayer return to JR, leaving Berry still searching for his next ride? Could Berry head to Haas to replace Mayer, leaving Smith the odd man out and looking for a chance in 2027?
Something tells me Silly Season isn’t over yet.
johnmilner.ca 