Hemric Scores Strong Points Day at Charlotte ROVAL

Daniel Hemric collected a valuable points day in the face of steep adversity with an 11th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on Friday afternoon. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST banked a stout, 40-point effort for the sixth-most points accrued during the event. With two races remaining prior to the championship finale, Hemric holds a two-point margin on the provisional cut line and sits third in the playoff standings.

The Round of 8 began with an ominous tone on Friday morning for Hemric and the NAPA Auto Care team as a suspension failure forced them to the garage in practice and forfeited a qualifying attempt. Hemric was required to start 34th on the field due to the issues but made a furious charge through the field once the green flag flew. He gained 12 positions on the first lap and cracked the top-15 by lap nine. His forward progress continued as he miraculously joined the top-10 by lap 14 and set his sights on scoring stage points. Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt also eyed the valuable markers as several lead trucks elected to pit prior to the stage caution and employed the opposite agenda. Hemric stayed on track to earn seven points in fourth position at the end of Stage 1 on lap 20.

The price for points was a four-tire pit stop under yellow, which put Hemric back to 14th for the Stage 2 restart as numerous trucks that pitted before stayed out during the caution. The hometown driver put on a similar effort in Stage 2 and climbed to seventh position by lap 37. The same strategy netted Hemric the same result by the end of Stage 2 on lap 40, pocketing another seven markers while running in fourth position.

Hemric pitted again for four tires, fuel, and small adjustments during the second stage caution and lined up 22nd on lap 45. After starting deeper in the field, Hemric’s balance trended much tighter, and it was a challenge to get the NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet to change directions efficiently on the narrow course. He ran as high as 14th in the waning laps until a caution flew three laps shy of the finish on lap 64. Bellicourt brough Hemric to pit road for a fresh set of tires as the NAPA squad gained him three positions. Hemric restarted 11th and navigated the elevated level of aggression in overtime to finish 11th and secure his best points performance on a road course this season.

“It’s a little bittersweet,” Hemric said after the checkered flag. “The amount of vehicles we had to pass today and the things that had to go our way. Getting the stage points we did from starting last after what happened in practice and not getting it qualified. Yeah, I’m as content as I can be, but to not use the speed I felt like we probably had at times and really just come back with a mediocre finish with our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet, yeah, it hurts a little bit.”

With three races left in the season, Hemric and the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team have next weekend off before the Round of 8 continues on Friday, October 17, at Talladega Superspeedway.

Start / Finish: 34 / 11
Points Standing / Total: 3rd / +2 above cutline

Next Race: Friday, Oct. 17, Talladega Superspeedway
How to Watch or Listen: 4:00 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM

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