Hemric: “Pumped to get to Bristol”

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer 

BRISTOL, Tenn. – 2017 Dash 4 Cash Winner Daniel Hemric will have the chance to repeat at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend. Hemric once again is one of the four NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers to qualify for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash.

The Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 marks the sixth race for Hemric at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” In his rookie Xfinity season, he finished fifth and seventh respectively. In two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Hemric finished fourth and third.

“I was quick to remind my crew chief Danny Stockman that we ran seventh in one of the races at Bristol last year and that was my worst series finish at Bristol,” Hemric pointed out, “so I told him to make sure we can strive to do better than that. Now that we’re locked into the Dash 4 Cash program as well, there’s a lot of stuff on the line. We have been steadily improving each week since Daytona and if we keep doing what we’re doing and keep chopping wood we will be in contention to run up front.”

Bristol Motor Speedway will once again add the “Bristol Bite” traction compound to the lower grooves of the racing surface. The traction compound has aided drivers and teams seeking another racing groove. This weekend will be the fourth consecutive Bristol race weekend in which the traction compound has been utilized.

“I am pumped to get to Bristol Motor Speedway with this South Point Hotel & Casino team,” Hemric said. “That’s a wild place. The atmosphere just feels so different than any place we go on the schedule. My very first childhood memory of watching NASCAR on television was watching Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte going at it in the night race. I know this weekend is the day race, but it is an incredible feeling. You just try not to forget those moments, watching those old races on TV, and I just respect those moments as I walk through the gates.”

Hemric enters “The Last Great Colosseum” fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Points Standings. He is 25-points behind points leader Elliott Sadler and 72-points ahead of the Playoff cutoff, held by Ross Chastain. Hemric has two top-five and six top-10 finishes as well as a pole position at the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.