Hemric Hungry to Advance with First Bristol Victory
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway
Events: UNOH 250
Date: Thursday, September 11
Location: Bristol, TN
Track Description: 0.533-mile oval
Distance: 250 laps, 133.25 miles (8:00 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
Hungry to Advance … Daniel Hemric enters the second race of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) hungry to advance. The driver of the No. 19 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Silverado RST began his title quest with a stout runner-up effort at Darlington Raceway, which has him positioned third on the playoff grid, 33 points above the provisional cutline. After posting two second-place finishes in the last three races, Hemric has plenty of motivation and hunger to capture his first victory at “Thunder Valley” and advance to the second round.
Trending in the Right Direction … Hemric’s season of consistency has been trending in the right direction in recent weeks and another short track outing could elevate his performance. He enters (BMS) with five top-10 results in the last six races which has helped him gain a significant buffer on the provisional cut line. Hemric has been stout at BMS in his career with three top-five’s and six top-10 finishes in eight NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the “Last Great Colosseum”. The short tracks have been a strong suit for Hemric and the No. 19 South Point Hotel & Casino team this year with a win at Martinsville Speedway, totaling two top-five’s and three top-10’s in five races.
Season to Date … Through 19 events thus far, Hemric has racked up one win, nine top-five’s, and 14 top-10 results. Hemric sits third in the playoff standings with two races remaining in Round 1 and has attained an elite level of consistency with the second-most top-five finishes (nine), top-10’s (14), and average finish (9.0) among all NCTS competitors.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 begins live coverage from the second race of the NCTS playoffs on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET with practice and qualifying on FOX Sports 2. Race coverage flexes to FOX Sports 1 with the green flag flying at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 South Point Hotel & Casino team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmr_nascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Daniel Hemric Quote:
On returning to Bristol Motor Speedway:
“There’s no place like Bristol. You don’t need much to get excited about racing there. We did a good job of executing at a high level at Darlington and need to do that again on Thursday night with our South Point Hotel & Casino Chevy. We weren’t where we wanted to be in the spring race, but I think we’ve made some gains on it and hopefully we can see those results this week. The PJ1 should last close to the entire race, if not all of it, so I would expect the preferred lane to be on the bottom most of the night. We’ll see what direction the track goes, keep fighting all night, and try to manage the pit strategy and tires the right way. Like I said, if we can continue the level of execution we had last week, we’ll put ourselves in a great position.”