Hemric Earns Front-Row Start, Tallies Another Top-10 Finish in Michigan Debut

Daniel Hemric earned his career-best start and led his first laps in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) before recording yet another top-10 finish in his debut at Michigan International Speedway. With a fast California Clean Power Chevy from the time the NTS Motorsports team unloaded, Hemric paced the opening practice session and started on the outside pole before bringing home a seventh-place finish in the Careers for Veterans 200. The finish was the team’s seventh top 10 in the last eight NCWTS events.

 
Hemric and the No. 14 team immediately showed their speed after the garage opened, laying down the fastest lap of first practice and running second in final practice. A blazing-fast qualifying lap of 39.166 seconds earned Hemric his first front-row start in the NCWTS. Taking the green flag from the second position, Hemric immediately jumped to the lead, maintaining the point position for the opening four laps of the 100-lap event. On lap 12, Hemric reported that his truck was sliding the right-front tire past the center of the turn, asking his NTS Motorsports team to help him with side bite when it came time to pit. Hemric had his first opportunity to visit pit road on lap 26, with the team making the call for four tires, fuel and a track-bar adjustment. Entering the pits in the seventh position, a quick stop by the California Clean Power team put the No. 14 in the fourth spot for the green flag on lap 31. Hemric found that the truck became extremely loose all around as temperatures rose, but a long green-flag run prevented him from bringing his Chevy Silverado back to the pits until lap 68. Now in the 13th position, he was once again serviced with four tires and fuel, in addition to track-bar and air-pressure adjustments. The caution flag waved just four laps after Hemric’s pit stop, with the California Clean Power Chevy still scored in the 13th position. As the remaining laps waned, Hemric capitalized on a series of four restarts to advance to the front, progressing as high as the fourth spot with five laps remaining before ultimately crossing the finish line in the seventh position.
 
Daniel Hemric on Michigan International Speedway
“I am so proud of this NTS Motorsports team; we unloaded an extremely fast California Clean Power Chevy and remained fast right until the checkered flag. It was a lot of fun to get to lead my first laps in the [NASCAR Camping World] Truck Series. Starting on the front row, I was determined to take the lead right when the green flag waved, and between our fast truck and a great drafting partner in the No. 33, I was able to jump right out front. We were so good in practice and qualifying, practically perfect, but the way you had to drive in the race was a lot different than the way you ran in practice and qualifying. It was a great learning experience for me to feel the different kind of trim you needed for race conditions at this track; it taught me a bunch and was a lot of fun. I felt like we were in contention to win the entire race, and having a weekend like this makes me really pumped to head to Bristol in a few days.”
 
Hemric moves up to sixth in the NCWTS Driver Point Standings, just five points outside the top five. The Truck Series makes a quick turnaround for a mid-week show at Bristol Motor Speedway. The UNOH 200 airs live on FOX Sports 1 on Wednesday, August 19 at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

NTS Motorsports PR