Hemric Gains Ground in Points at Darlington with Top-10 Run

Venue: Darlington Raceway

FINISH: 9th

Start: 14th

Laps Led: 0

Points Position: 14th

Daniel Hemric took an arduous road to finish in the top-10 at Darlington Raceway, yet the driver of the No. 19 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST gained significant ground in the standings by night’s end. Hemric earned a ninth-place finish, which netted him five positions in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series standings with his second-consecutive top-10 result. Over the last two races, Hemric has closed to within 14 markers of the provisional Chase cut line.

Hemric qualified 14th on Friday afternoon and made steady progress in the opening 45 laps of the event. The NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet started too tight for Hemric’s preference but came alive once the tires degraded. After restarting 14th on lap 19, Hemric’s long run speed methodically vaulted him into 10th position to score one point at the end of Stage 1 at lap 45.

During the first stage caution, Hemric pitted for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment to improve the front grip. He restarted the second segment from 13th on lap 54 and continued to battle with a similar handling condition during the middle portion of the evening. However, Hemric benefited from strong long run pace to move forward to 11th at the end of Stage 2 on lap 90.

The second stage caution and another yellow flag shortly thereafter created two-consecutive pit sequences that unfortunately put Hemric back to 24th for a restart on lap 109. He advanced to 20th and restarted there on lap 128 after the majority of the field made their final pit stop of night. A critical moment unfolded on lap 150 when Hemric narrowly escaped a multi-truck accident to advance to 14th. The pair of subsequent green-white-checkered restarts gave Hemric an opportunity to hustle into ninth at the checkered flag and score his first pair of back-to-back top-10 results of 2026.

Daniel Hemric Quote:

“Good to gain some points and have a respectable finish with our NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet. We were too tight most of the night but we would reach a point in the run where our truck would really sustain well and we could make time. It’s encouraging to have that long run pace but definitely need more on the short run and clean some things up too before we get to Rockingham.”