Hemric Finishes 24th at Darlington
Date: September 4, 2021
Event: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 (Round 24 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile egg-shaped oval)
Format: 147 laps (Stages: 45 laps / 45 laps / 57 laps)
Start / Finish: 1st / 24th (Running, 152 of 152 laps)
Point Standing: 4th (808 points, -147 points out of first)
Race Winner: Noah Gragson
Stage 1 Winner: Daniel Hemric
Stage 2 Winner: Noah Gragson
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-45)
· Daniel Hemric started Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway from the pole position and won stage one.
· The Poppy Bank Toyota Supra jumped out to the lead in the opening laps before Hemric reported an engine issue on lap 10. When a caution waved on lap 12, Hemric was scored eighth.
· During the first caution, the Poppy Bank team made two pit stops and fixed a plug wire issue. When the race resumed, Hemric reported that everything was back to normal as he was running 38th when the competition caution waved on lap 21.
· Crew chief Dave Rogers called Hemric to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel on lap 22 while most of the other lead-lap cars did not pit.
· Hemric rocketed through the field following the lap-26 restart and made his way up to second with only a handful of laps remaining in the first stage.
· The Poppy Bank Supra grabbed the stage win after Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin spun while leading on the final lap of the segment.
· Rogers brought Hemric back to pit road between stages for another pit stop.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 46-90)
· Hemric started third and finished fifth in stage two.
· The Poppy Bank Supra ran competitively inside the top five throughout the second segment.
· Late in the stage, Hemric tried to pass AJ Allmendinger for the runner-up spot, but lost his momentum and fell to seventh. The No. 18 driver regrouped and made a strong move on the final lap of the segment to finish fifth.
· Hemric pitted again for four fresh tires and fuel between stages.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 91-152)
· Hemric started the final stage in the sixth position and finished 24th in Saturday’s race at Darlington Raceway.
· The No. 18 team continued their strong performance as Hemric was running seventh before a caution on lap 109 brought teams to pit road once again. For the Poppy Bank team, the pit stop used their last set of fresh tires while the rest of the competition had one set remaining.
· A slower car stayed on track in front of the leaders for the restart. For Hemric, he was trapped with nowhere to go and subsequently fell all the way to 13th within a lap.
· The Poppy Bank Supra was back up to eighth when another caution waved on lap 138. Because the team was out of fresh tires, Hemric did not pit while all the leaders around him came in for tires for the closing laps of the race.
· On the restart, Hemric relinquished the lead and was spun out a lap later as cars tried to pass him high and low.
· The late-race misfortune left the No. 18 team with a 24th-place finish.
Additional Notes
· Hemric’s stage one victory was the No. 18 driver’s sixth stage win of the season.
· Harrison Burton led Joe Gibbs Racing with a runner-up finish. Denny Hamlin ended the day 12th with Hemric 24th and Brandon Jones 33rd.
Next Up: The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Richmond Raceway next weekend. The race will be broadcast live Saturday, September 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
-JGR-