Hemric Scores Third-Consecutive Top-10 Finish in First-Career Start at Gateway

Daniel Hemric crossed off another new track on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) schedule, making his first-career laps at Gateway Motorsports Park. Hemric’s No. 14 California Clean Power Chevrolet Silverado was strong early in the day, laying down the seventh-fastest time in the weekend’s only practice. However, after rain delayed the start of the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 and changed the track conditions, Hemric’s machine did not turn as well as it had earlier in the day, and he ultimately crossed the finish line in the ninth position.

 

After running seventh in the only practice session of the weekend, Hemric’s 33.138-second time would secure him the seventh-starting position when rain washed out qualifying in the first round. Following a lengthy delay to the start of the race for additional showers, the 160-lap event finally got underway an hour and a half after the originally-scheduled start time. Following the wave of the green flag, Hemric found himself in the 11th position, telling his NTS Motorsports crew that his truck’s entry was good but that he was tight in the center and on exit. The first caution flag of the night on lap 54 allowed Hemric to visit pit road for four tires, fuel and both wedge and air-pressure adjustments, and he returned to the track in the 12th position for the lap-63 restart. Hemric gained one position by the second yellow flag on lap 81, and he relayed to his crew that his Silverado was more manageable that run, but that the adjustments made during the previous pit stop hurt the right-rear grip. The NTS crew called their driver back down pit road for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment, with the quick stop allowing him to line up ninth for the green flag. The No. 14 truck appeared to come to life at the beginning of the run, with Hemric quickly gaining positions, and by lap 88, he took over the sixth spot. Another caution flag slowed the field on lap 93, and the No. 14 team made the decision to stay out, which put Hemric fifth when green-flag racing resumed on lap 98. Unfortunately, a jumbled restart at the front of the pack quickly sent Hemric back to the 10th spot, which was where he was running when the caution was displayed on lap 118. Explaining to the California Clean Power team that the last round of adjustments seemed to ultimately hurt his ability to turn by the end of the run, Hemric visited pit road for four tires, fuel and a quick revision of the previous track-bar adjustment. In the final 34 laps, Hemric survived two more cautions for multi-truck wrecks and two more wild restarts, fighting hard for position and securing a top-10 finish by crossing the start/finish line in the ninth position as the checkered flag waved.

 

Daniel Hemric on Gateway Motorsports Park

“Tonight was a rough night, but I can’t thank everybody at NTS Motorsports enough for sticking with me. We started off the day with a really fast California Clean Power Chevrolet and I felt good going into the race, but with the rain and the later start because of the weather delays, it was a whole different racetrack when it came time to race; we had some moments when we were really fast, but we just could never quite get our No. 14 Silverado to turn the way it needed to. Chris [Rice] and Ryan [McKinney] made great calls on the pit box and we had fast pit stops all night. I wish we could have gotten a top five out of tonight, but overall, we’re showing a lot of consistency as a team. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in Iowa.”

NTS Motorsports PR