In mid-September, Richard Childress Racing announced they were releasing Daniel Hemric after the conclusion of the 2019 season as the driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet.
In response to the news, Hemric posted a tweet saying, “Forever grateful to Richard & everyone at @RCRracing for the opportunity. I’m disappointed it ended like this, but we’ve got nine more races together & some team goals that are still within reach. I’m going to do all I can to make sure we get those & finish the season strong.”
A little over three weeks later, Hemric’s goals remain unchanged. He spoke about his mindset Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, the site of his best finish this year.
“The game plan, he said, “from a professional side, has still been the same. The goals you set out to accomplish in February, and really dating back three years ago with RCR, those all stay the same.”
This year was Hemric’s first full-time season of competition in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The 28-year-old has one top-five and two top-10s in 30 races that include a fifth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in April. Prior to that, he drove for RCR in the Xfinity Series in 2017 and 2018 and qualified for the Championship both years.
For now, the racing takes precedence but Hemric is also looking ahead to what is next.
“I’ve got to figure out another path,” Hemric said. “Personally, you’ve had to kind of grind it out and spend what would typically be your off-days away from the race track doing just that and trying to position yourself and align yourself in a situation where you can continue on and move forward past Homestead as things go down the way they’re going to go down. But the race track stuff hasn’t really changed a whole lot. We still try to go to the race track and do our jobs.”
While looking for new opportunities, the key says Hemric, is to remain true to himself.
“I think just do your thing and be yourself and that’s what I’ve always tried to do and I feel very grounded by the fact,” he explained. “I think that’s why I’ve had the opportunities to get to where I’m at today. I try not to really veer too far off that course and just try to do what feels right to me and I think along the way I’ve been able to establish and build and create a lot of incredible partnerships.”
For now, Hemric’s main focus is clear.
“If we can accomplish our goals of winning Rookie of the Year, finish as high in the points as we can, and knowing that when I cross the finish line at Homestead, I know I gave them everything I had from day one together until the checkered flag flew.”
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