HEMRIC CLAIMS FOURTH-PLACE FINISH AT TEXAS
Date: June 12, 2021
Event: Alsco Uniforms 250 (Round 14 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Format: 167 laps (Stages: 40 laps / 40 laps / 87 laps)
Start / Finish: 5th / 4th (Running, 171 of 171 laps)
Point Standing: 3rd (488 points, -122 points out of first)
Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Stage 1 Winner: Austin Cindric
Stage 2 Winner: Kyle Busch
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-40)
Daniel Hemric started Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway from the fifth position and finished second in stage one.
The Poppy Bank Toyota Supra settled into the top five early in the race as Hemric reported that his car was too tight exiting the turns.
Following the competition caution midway through stage one, Hemric chose to restart on the inside of the second row. He climbed to second following the green flag and held on to the runner-up position through the end of the 40-lap segment.
Crew chief Dave Rogers called Hemric to pit road between stages for four fresh tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment to help the tight handling condition. The Poppy Bank team gained their driver a position on pit road to put Hemric into the lead to begin stage two.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 41-80)
Hemric started first and finished second in stage two.
After leading the field to the green to begin stage two, Hemric slotted in behind Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch.
The Poppy Bank Supra continued to run second for the remainder of the stage despite a challenge from Austin Cindric in the closing laps.
When the stage ended on lap 80, Hemric was scored second as he reported that his Supra was a little loose early, but ultimately transitioned to being too tight on exit.
Rogers called Hemric back to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment. The No. 18 crew maintained his second-place position to begin the final segment.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 81-167)
Hemric started the final stage second and finished fourth in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
On the initial start of the final stage, Hemric wrestled the lead away from Busch before a caution set up another restart on lap 98.
When the field raced through turns one and two on the lap-98 restart, Hemric’s car bobbled and caused him to be swarmed on the inside and outside as the Poppy Bank Supra slid back to eighth.
Hemric found his way back up to sixth before the caution waved again on lap 110 to bring teams to pit road for their final pit stops of the day.
The No. 18 Supra restarted eighth on lap 116 and Hemric was back up to sixth when the race was slowed again on lap 121.
Hemric climbed back into the top five on lap 131 and remained there for the rest of the race.
The Poppy Bank Supra restarted fifth for an overtime restart and Hemric bypassed teammate Brandon Jones on the final lap to grab a fourth-place finish.
Additional Notes
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch earned his 99th career Xfinity Series win. The win is his second of 2021 and the No. 54 team’s fourth victory.
Busch’s performance gave Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota their 300th win (NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series) since partnering up in 2008.
Daniel Hemric, driver of the No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra
How was your race overall today?
“We had a very good Poppy Bank Supra. I think we’ve hit on something with our 18 team where myself and Dave Rogers (crew chief) are building our notebook for when it’s going to matter the most this fall. It’s been a rough month for us as far as finishing positions go, so it’s nice to finally get a decent one on the board. I was a little disappointed there, we took the lead off of Kyle (Busch), it’s always fun to line up next to him and beat him on a restart. Then, I had another shot at it and I’m not sure if I got in the speedy dry and it slipped, but it felt like with how big track position was, we were lucky to get back to fourth. I’ll take it. I wish we could have taken another pit stop and had another shot at it, but overall a decent day.”
Next Up: The NASCAR Xfinity Series makes its first trip to Nashville Superspeedway since 2011 next weekend. The race will be broadcast live Sunday, June 19, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
-JGR-