At 28, Hemric going for NASCAR rookie of the year
Friday night’s Firecracker 250 at Daytona International Speedway was not completed in time for this edition. Read the late race story in our e-edition at OrlandoSentinel.com/late or on our website.
In this age of “diaper dandy” race car drivers who find their way into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in their late teens or early 20s, Daniel Hemric is a bit of an oddball.
Hemric, who has kicked around in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and Xfinity Series since 2013, is running for Cup Rookie of the Year honors at the ripe old age of 28.
“I’ve raced with a lot of these guys so there’s not a lot of that rookie hazing sort of stuff going on with me,” he said with a laugh during a recent telephone interview.
“Mostly it’s about learning about other people and how they learn about you and how you are going to race them. You have to gain trust out there.”
Hemric wheels the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, the same car driven by Ryan Newman — with the No. 31 branding — last season.
A native of Kannapolis, N.C., Hemric becomes the second driver from the North Carolina mill town to make it to the big leagues with Childress.
The first on the RCR roster was a guy named Dale Earnhardt, who took Childress’ No. 3 entry to fame and glory.
Hemric earned his Cup chance after two years of Xfinity Series service for Childress.
“I’ve been watching Daniel since he was a young boy,” said Childress.
A strange stat about Hemric’s NASCAR career — he has never won a NASCAR race, although he battled for the Xfinity Series championship in both 2017 and ‘18.
This year’s crop of firstyear drivers includes Matt Tifft, who is last in points among drivers making 16 starts this season, and Ryan Preece, who has shown flashes of brilliance in the No. 47 Chevy.
Hemric, 24th in the Cup standings, finished fifth at Talladega earlier this season.
“We set out this year with a couple of goals in mind and winning that rookie title is one of them,” Hemric said. “This is a great class. Ryan Preece is a great racer.
“That’s one box we want to check off and as each we goes by we inch closer. I know we can do it but we have a long way to go this season. I think we are just now tapping in to our potential with this No. 8.”
Hemric may be older than the average rookie contender, but he has the same attitude as the younger guys.
“We’ve been looking forward to that without a doubt,” he said. ”We have a notebook now and hopefully that will be able to help us be put in a situation to win.
“We have confidence because we know as a group we have as good a shot as anyone when we go to Daytona. There’s a lot of opportunity waiting for us there.”