Top-Five Finish at Bristol Nets Hemric a $100,000 Payday

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

After a rollercoaster ride through the first six races of the season, Daniel Hemric and his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team finally had things go their way at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the rookie leaves Thunder Valley with his first top-five of the year and $100,000 richer after winning the Dash 4 Cash bonus.

Hemric started the day in 10^th place and moving up eighth place by the end of the first stage. Stage two would be even more fruitful for the rookie as he took over the race lead under caution for rain at lap 165 and stayed out front through the end of the second stage to earn himself a stage win and pick up a vital playoff point.

Though he would lose the lead after eight laps up front, Hemric kept his Chevrolet in the hunt through the remainder of the race, staying inside the top-10 through the duration of the final stage as team owner Richard Childress told him over the radio to “take no prisoners.”

Although he battled for the lead late in the going, a series of late race restarts would be his downfall as he would have to settle for a fifth place finish instead.

“Man, that sounds good,” said Hemric. “It’s so incredible what Xfinity does, Comcast, everybody for this series. Can’t thank them enough. Gosh, I was hoping we’d get both of them there. Just lined up on the bottom and that hurt us on the last couple of restarts. All in all, such a great performance from our guys. Coming from a lap down, getting the Lucky Dog, making this Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet better and better every stop was a true testament to my group of guys. Can’t thank everyone enough. Hopefully this is the beginning of a lot of things for us.”

His fellow Dash4Cash competitors wouldn’t have quite as good of a day as Hemric did, with Justin Allgaier being his closest rival for the bonus money with a 14^th place finish. The other two Dash4Cash eligible drivers, Cole Custer and Brendan Gaughan would end the day in 32^nd and 35^th, respectively.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars won’t have to wait long for the next Dash4Cash race, as next week’s race at Richmond will also have the $100,000 bonus up for grabs.