Toyota Racing – Daniel Hemric
NASCAR Xfinity Series Quotes
KANSAS CITY (October 19, 2021) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Hemric was made available to media via videoconference prior to the Kansas race weekend today:
DANIEL HEMRIC, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Is it easy for you to keep the Championship 4 mindset since you have been there before?
“First off, it’s never easy. We’ve seen guys dominate and miss out, and we’ve seen myself and a few others make it on points. Just the unknown is there for everyone, which I feel like drives the NASCAR fanbase, especially once we get to the Playoffs. That’s why we show up and try to be better each and every week. Better the following week than we were before, and we are no different. You just have to show up and try to do your part. It’s not easy by any means. I feel like you go into it and play to your strengths. I feel like we’ve done a good job of honing on those as the 18 team. That’s our play. We have to rely on our strengths. We have to go through the race weekends and execute to those strengths. You can’t control everybody else. You can’t control the decisions that they are going to make, how they are preparing, how they attack – but you can control yourself and that can take you far if you stick to that.”
Do you have a certain number of points you would like to be compared to the cutline going into Martinsville?
“Not that past results guarantee any part of future success, but I’ve honestly – even the times that I made it on points – I’ve worried zero about it. I go and try to run my race. Obviously, you are aware of other guys, but there is so much that can happen like that in all three series in a swing of a corner or someone’s decision. All of that worrying does you no good. You focus on yourself. I have no clear-cut point scenario that I look at. I know that Dave Rogers (crew chief), the engineers, the folks at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Toyota have all of metrics that say where you want to be. I personally don’t care. I go race and do my job. In years past in Xfinity, that’s given me that opportunity to run for a championship. I don’t look at this any different. Let’s go race.”
How much has being a father changed your perspective?
“It for sure changes it. Great question. I said it even last year going through some – really the last two years – going through some tough times, our little girl, Rhen, is 17 months old now. It’s really fun to enjoy the really good moments with them and to have that extra person and dynamic in your life to share those good moments with, but where I value it, the most is the tough days. The days that you can come home and have that outlet. It’s an incredible feeling like no other and I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful for my wife, Kenzie’s support. Our little girl, Rhen, is starting to have her own personality and things that make it that much more exciting, no matter what the day has given you. It’s a fun dynamic. Something that we are having a blast with. Any young parent knows that each day is different and that is the joy of it. No matter how your day goes, that is always fun to come home too.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands plus our 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota has created a tremendous value chain and directly employs more than 47,000 in North America. The company has contributed world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama that begins production in 2021.
Through its Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
