Hemric Chasing First Road Course Victory in NY’s Finger Lakes
Venue: Watkins Glen International
Events: Mission 176
Date: Friday, August 8
Location: Watkins Glen, NY
Track Description: 2.45-mile road courseDistance: 72 laps, 176.4 miles (5:00 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
The Right Way … Daniel Hemric looks for the right way around Watkins Glen, NY’s historic 2.45-mile road course as the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) returns to road course racing this week. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST has yet to break into victory lane on a road course in his NASCAR career but hopes to change that at Watkins Glen International (WGI). Hemric recently finished seventh at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 25th in his first outing with crew chief Kevin Bellicourt and looks to nab his eighth top-five result of the season and fourth consecutive top-10 finish.
Road Map … WGI marks the second road course race of the season for the NCTS competitors. Hemric recorded a ninth-place effort in the tour’s first road course outing at Lime Rock Park in June. The North Carolinian has a strong record of turning right and left with finishes of ninth or better in all three of his NCTS road course starts in his career, including a pair of top-five results at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2015-2016. Throughout his 186-race career in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS), Hemric has also earned seven top-five’s at four different road courses. Hemric has previously made five NXS starts at “The Glen” and two in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Season to Date … Hemric holds the fourth position in the NCTS standings with two races remaining in the regular season. His victory at Martinsville Speedway has the No. 19 NAPA Nightvision team locked in the playoffs, along with seven top-five’s and 12 top-10 results through 16 races. Hemric has been a model of consistency with an average finish of 8.4, second-best of all NCTS drivers, and is tied for the most top-10 results in the series.
Tune In … Live coverage from WGI begins on FOX Sports 2 with practice and qualifying at 11:30 a.m. ET on Friday morning, followed by the green flag at 5:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Stay connected with the No. 19 NAPA Nightvision team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmr_nascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Daniel Hemric Quote:
On returning to Watkins Glen: “Road course racing is always a challenge, but we’ll be ready for it this week. Watkins Glen is a fun place. You carry a ton of momentum, lots of speed with a couple hard braking zones. Clear air and track position always seems to pay off there, so hopefully we can qualify our NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet towards the front and make it a little easier on ourselves. Even though the Glen is much faster than most road courses, we still have the Roval in the playoffs, so this is another good check point for your road course program. If we can execute a clean day, limit the mistakes, we should be able to be in the mix on Friday.”