Daniel Hemric drove to his third consecutive top five result in exciting fashion at Pocono Raceway. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Penn. – Daniel Hemric has made a habit of avoiding last lap accidents in dramatic fashion like a skilled magician.
While the scene and event differed from the prior NASCAR XFINITY Series race at New Hampshire, Hemric found himself in a similar predicament at Pocono Raceway. This time, the scene was set at Pocono’s infamous “Tunnel Turn” or the second corner on the final lap.
As the field raced their way into Turn 2, two separate incidents resulted in the final caution of last Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225. Josh Berry, who dominated the balance of the event, veered into the Turn 2 wall, moments before Ryan Sieg spun 0ff the same corner.
In the midst of the chaos, Hemric darted to the inside lane, steering clear of Berry’s machine and moving ahead of Sieg’s car. With the caution effectively ending the race, Hemric drove to another dramatic top five result.
The 2021 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion, who started second, maximized on another race day when others were besieged by problems. Hemric, who scored his third consecutive top five result, recalled his split second decision that solidified his Round 19 efforts.
“I couldn’t really see it,” Hemric said. “I was mired back behind traffic and trying to maximize our tire advantage that we had at that point. And I knew when I come off of Turn 1 there on the last lap, I couldn’t tell what got the No. 8 out of line, but I saw the No. 8 come back up.
“Next thing I know, it looked like he either cut a right front tire or something there and I knew I did not want to be on the top getting in the tunnel (Turn 2) because of it. So, yeah, I’m glad we were able to get through that and salvage our day.”
In recent weeks, Hemric has looked more like the driver who punched his ticket into the Championship 4 in 2021. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
After a slow start to the season, kicking off with a crash at Daytona, Hemric has worked his way from 35th to seventh in the points standings. Along the way, the North Carolinian has seen the uptick with his performances coinciding with his No. 11 team’s gradual gains throughout the season.
“I think more than anything else, just unloading and having speed, qualifying good, not fading there throughout the first stage, we were able to hold track position pretty good,” he said. “It’s just doing some of the little things right that you got to be be really cleaning up at this part of the year.
“And I like the direction we’re going, but everybody also can clean their stuff up just as fast as anybody else. So we got to continue to do it and continue to try to get better.”
Although Hemric still pursues his first win of the year, the Kaulig Racing driver cannot complain about the recent, consistent frontrunning results. If anything, he is maximizing on his race day efforts, capitalizing on opportunities even when it may be tempting to take risky chances.
Ahead of the upcoming Henry 180 at Road America, Hemric acknowledged the diligent work put forth to mount a serious championship run this coming fall.
“It’s definitely been kind of a work in progress,” Hemric said. “You can always clean stuff up and have smoother races. We’ve done that. We’ve gotten better on pit road. So proud of those guys. And we’re building faster race cars.
“When you do that, like I said after our top five run at New Hampshire, it allows you to get yourself out of other situations, lets you be a little more aggressive on the strategy side. And it’s fun to drive race cars on days like that.”
Editor’s Notes
Nathan Solomon contributed to this article on site from Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
