Adversity Instantly Strikes Hemric at Richmond

Daniel Hemric’s evening at Richmond Raceway was draped in adversity from the initial start on Friday evening and resulted in a 33rd-place finish. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST closed the regular season fifth in the regular season drivers’ standings. He will begin the playoffs seeded fourth in the standings at Darlington Raceway on August 30th with 11 playoff points.

Hemric delivered the 10th-quickest lap in qualifying under bright sunshine on Friday afternoon. His evening immediately turned tumultuous when he drifted up the racetrack in Turn 1 on the opening lap and pitted on lap 11 with a flat tire. Upon pitting, the NAPA team quickly discovered the front sway bar arm and been dragged off from contact with the track surface.

The NAPA Auto Care team went behind the wall to make repairs to the front suspension and returned Hemric to the racetrack. The team’s efforts were rewarded as Hemric posted the fastest lap of the evening to earn an additional point which counted towards his regular season total. Hemric completed 186 of the 250 laps to finish 33rd and sits fourth in the reseeded standings prior to the first of seven playoff races.

“Must have just got a small cut or puncture on the parade laps,” Hemric said. “Obviously, (the tire) was going down, Turn 1, lap one. At that point, your fate is pretty much sealed, unless a fluke yellow comes out quickly, and it didn’t. We stayed out there until it finally came off the wheel and had to pit. By that point, had to put sway bar arms, and all the stuff it drug off it back on it. Not ideal, but once I get my suit off, we’re done with it and on to the playoffs for our NAPA Auto Care team.”

Start / Finish: 10 / 33
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 2,011 pts. (-54)

Next Race: Saturday, August 30, Darlington Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 12:00 p.m. ET on FS1, SiriusXM or MRN

NAPA: @NAPARacing
Daniel Hemric: @DanielHemric
Bill McAnally Racing / McAnally-Hilgemann Racing: @BMR_NASCAR