Ecosave 200 – Race Results
Venue: Charlotte Motor Speedway
FINISH: 6th
Start: 16th
Stage 2: 10th
Laps Led: 0
Points Position: 5th
Hemric Continues Consistent March in Charlotte
Consistency can be an elusive attribute for drivers, but Daniel Hemric has found it and generating momentum after a sixth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) on Friday evening. The driver of the No. 19 Delphi Chevrolet Silverado RST continued his progress up the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) Chase standings by moving to fifth in points. Hemric’s string of consistency now includes fourth top-10 results over the last five races, and three finishes of eighth or better in the last four races.
Hemric’s Delphi Chevrolet featured a tribute scheme to Kyle Busch’s 2007 NASCAR Busch Series car, and the North Carolinian made sure to deliver an effort worthy of Rowdy’s scheme. He took the green flag in 16th position and instantly moved forward. By lap four, Hemric climbed to 11th but began to contend with a loose handling balance during the opening run. The entirety of Stage 1 ran under green flag conditions as Hemric was scored 13th at the end of the segment on lap 30.
During the stage caution, crew chief Kevin Bellicourt armed Hemric with a fresh set of Goodyear tires, fuel, and an adjustment to improve his balance. He restarted in 18th position on lap 38 and immediately made another charge forward. The outside lane provided timely momentum as the neon No. 19 rocketed back into the top-10 by lap 40. The ensuing 24-lap run showed Hemric’s durability as he maintained the 10th position to score a stage point at the end of the segment at lap 60.
After the second pit stop of the evening for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment, Hemric lined up 13th for the lap 69 restart. Cooler temps and increased grip levels gradually improved the No. 19’s outright speed as Hemric drove to ninth by lap 73. The following green flag period ran long enough to begin a cycle of pit stops but was interrupted by a timely caution flag on lap 99 while running fifth. Hemric made his final pit stop of the evening under the yellow flag and restarted seventh on lap 106. Two subsequent restarts with elevated intensity settled the evening and saw Hemric run as high as fourth with 11 laps remaining. He ultimately finished sixth for his 10th top-10 finish of the season and was one of three MHR entries to finish in the top-nine.
Daniel Hemric Quote:
“Super special to carry that Delphi throwback paint scheme. Just disappointed we couldn’t finish a little better than we did but the reality is we finished better than we ran all day. Just got fortunate with the yellow that caught a couple of the guys that we were kind of around and racing. That was a break, netted us two or three spots. Had a couple restarts go our way. We thought we were going to claw out a fouth-place finish there and the front tires shut off. Disappointed we let a top-five slip away, but where we were in Stage 1, Stage 2, we’ll count our blessings and go to the next one.”
