Unlikely duo Hemric and Tifft take to road racing
When you think about drivers likely to finish near the front in a standalone NASCAR Xfinity Series road race, a few names are more likely to stand out.
Sam Hornish Jr.? Anytime he runs. Justin Marks? Absolutely. Brendan Gaughan? You bet.
But Daniel Hemric or Matt Tifft? Uhh … no.
Still, when the Xfinity Series raced outside the Cup shadow at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course earlier this month, those two young hopefuls — a former Legends car driver from North Carolina and an Ohioan who went from karts to dirt late models — both scored career-best finishes.
“I followed Sam Hornish around for a while at Mid-Ohio, and I felt like just doing that made me a lot better not only on the road courses themselves but made me feel more confident in what I was doing,” said
Hemric, who finished second to the IndyCar champion that day.
“Road-course racing, it’s a totally different deal. Half of it is confidence, and I have that now as we move forward.”
After a weekend off and another on an oval, the Xfinity Series is back to turning both directions this week. The Johnsonville 180 is set for 2 p.m. Sunday at 4-mile Road America in Elkhart Lake.
Hemric and Tifft both are in contention for spots in the Xfinity Series playoffs. A victory in any of the next four races would put either in. Another good road-course run Sunday would be a boost both for the driver and his team.
“Obviously every weekend is going to present its own challenges, and not every weekend is going to go perfectly, and neither did that one,” said Tifft, who finished third at Mid-Ohio. “But it was a great weekend for getting to fight back from some early adversity issues.
“It was a great day for us, but you want to be able to get the guys pumped up going into the playoffs and going into the final third of the season. … You want to keep that going week in and week out.”
While not drivers you'd necessarily expect to challenge on a road course, Hemric and Tifft are prototypical young Xfinity Series regulars, if there is such a thing.
They’re trying to win races, trying to move up the career ladder, trying to avoid being completely overshadowed by the Monster Energy Cup drivers who drop in and they’re trying to differentiate themselves from dozens of other hopefuls.
Hemric, 26, moved from karts into Legends and Bandoleros — undersized race cars powered by motorcycle engines — and then asphalt late models.
Without family money, Hemric worked and networked his way to NASCAR with the help of mentors, sponsors and car owners. He spent the last two seasons full-time in the Camping World Truck Series and is a rookie in Xfinity this season with Richard Childress Racing.
“From about 14 to 22 or 23, I was in the shop every single day, building my own race cars, doing whatever it took to get to the racetrack, the sleepless nights,” Hemric said. “Kind of the stuff you hear old short-track legends made of.
“I don’t wish that upon nobody or think my way was different or better than anyone else’s; it’s just the way I had to do it. Now, to be at this point, I take a lot of pride in that.”
Tifft, 21, grew up at the track with his father’s dirt late model team, raced karts and then went to late models. Included in his training was a stint under the tutelage of Tim Schendel of Sparta at places such as Marshfield and Golden Sands speedways and on the ARCA Midwest Tour in 2012.
Since then, Tifft raced partial seasons in the ARCA national series, trucks and Xfinity. This year, with Joe Gibbs Racing, is his first full season in a single NASCAR national series.
Tifft has a leg up on every aspiring driver who says he is dedicated and resilient. He missed nearly four months of racing because of surgery to remove a brain tumor last summer.
“I understand what life is like without racing and understand how much racing means to me,” Tifft said.
“It is my goal to be in the Cup series and winning races, but you have to get everything in place and the cards have got to fall for you perfectly that day too. But you’ve got to be able to put yourself in those situations too. I feel like we’re getting better at that.”
Which takes us back to MidOhio and ahead to Road America.
Tifft watched video to learn the circuit and drove it in the hyperrealistic, full-motion Toyota. He is entered in the ARCA race, too, so he’ll get on the track a day ahead of most of his competition.
Hemric studied in-car video and notes from previous RCR debriefs about the track and also drove the General Motors simulator in preparation to see the track in person for the first time.
Hemric also benefits from driving for the organization that has won the past three Xfinity races at Road America.
“When you go to those places as a driver and you know the team’s had success, you definitely go into the weekend with pep in your step, and that’s definitely good to have,” Hemric said.
“You know if you can work on yourself and make yourself better, the race car and what it does for you will take suit and it’ll fall into place. … That’ll give us that much more confidence to go to Road America and hopefully be able to continue like we did at Mid-Ohio.”