Hemric Slowed by Unscheduled Stop at ‘The Rock’

Daniel Hemric was in position to score his third consecutive top-10 result and continue climbing in the standings, but an unscheduled pit stop thwarted his effort at Rockingham Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST was credited with a 24th-place finish despite scoring stage points and running inside the top-10 for a significant portion of the event.

Hemric hoped to continue his recent rekindled consistency on Friday after qualifying 15th at “The Rock”. Through the first 45-lap segment of the event, Hemric battled a free handling condition and limited his mobility around the blazing-fast one-mile oval. As Stage 1 ran fully under the green flag, Hemric was scored 16th at the first green-checkered flag of the day on lap 45.

Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt elected to throw an early strategy ploy on the first stop of the race. He gave Hemric two tires and fuel under the stage caution which netted eight positions. The ultra-high speeds on Rockingham’s fresh asphalt put a premium on track position and clean air, which made passing significantly challenging. Despite being at a tire disadvantage, Hemric steadily maintained the eighth position and scored three points at the end of Stage 2 on lap 90.

Hemric took four tires and fuel under the second stage caution and restarted 11th on lap 99 as several competitors elected to take two tires. However, during the green flag run, Hemric began experiencing a vibration which became increasingly severe. On lap 139, he pitted for left side tires to address the issue but was forced back to pit road a second time for right side tires. The unfortunate culprit, a loose wheel, sent Hemric to 31st, two laps down. Over the final 50 laps, he was able to salvage a portion of those positions and took the checkered flag in 25th. Following a penalty to the No. 38 truck in post-race inspection, Hemric was credited with a 24th-place result.

“Certainly not how we wanted our day to go,” Hemric remarked. “We were looking at a top-10 day with our NAPA Chevrolet. Kevin [Bellicourt] made a great call early to get us some track position. That was huge to gain those spots because it was so hard to pass. You likely weren’t going to gain that difference on the racetrack. We had speed to maintain our position, even with a tire disadvantage. Thought we could leapfrog a couple guys on the green flag stop, but we never made it that far. Unfortunate for sure, but we’ll put it behind us and move forward as a group to Bristol next week.”

Start / Finish: 15 / 24
Points Standing / Total: 18th / 91 pts. (-99)

Next Race: Friday, April 10, Bristol Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM

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