Hill returned to Rick Ware Racing in NASCAR for the 2012 season, also competing for the team in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Just before the start of the season, it was announced that Hill would move up to the Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 37 Ford for Max Q Motorsports with an alliance with Rick Ware's team, and also competing for Rookie of the Year. Hill had originally been announced to compete in all Cup races that year except for the 2012 Daytona 500, where Mike Wallace, an experienced and successful plate driver, would drive the No. 37 instead of the rookie Hill to have a better chance of getting the team in the race (which they still did not). Hill would instead be given the chance to drive at Daytona that weekend in the Nationwide race for Ware in their No. 41 car, where he would go on to score his career-best finish of seventh after avoiding a last-lap crash.