Hemric Hunting Breakthrough Performance at Atlanta

Venue: Atlanta Motor Speedway

Events: Fr8 208

Date: Saturday, February 22

Location: Hampton, GA

Track Description: 1.54-mile quad oval

Distance: 135 laps, 207.9 miles (1:30 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)

Hunting a Breakthrough … Daniel Hemric’s return to NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) competition began with a top-10 finish in the season opener and he is hunting a breakthrough win on NAPA’s home asphalt at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Hemric seeks to continue the trend of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet running at the front of the field in the Peach State. The blue and yellow NAPA Auto Care Silverado RST went to victory lane at AMS in 2023 and led 20 laps before taking the Stage 1 checkers last year with Christian Eckes at the controls. After banking a seventh-place result at Daytona International Speedway (DIS), a breakthrough effort at AMS could vault Hemric and the NAPA team to become one of the early title favorites. 

Hot Streak at “Hotlanta” … Recent history shows Hemric as one of the hottest performers on AMS’ recent reconfiguration in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and NASCAR Cup Series (NCS). His prior track record combined with the No. 19 Chevrolet’s history at AMS could prove to be a lethal combination come Saturday afternoon. Since AMS’ repave and banking reprofile in 2022, Hemric scored three top-five finishes in four NXS starts. Most recently, Hemric delivered one of the best efforts of his NCS season with an 11th-place finish in the NCS playoff race last September. Saturday’s 208-miler is Hemric’s first NCTS start on AMS’ new configuration, but he does have a fourth-place finish to his credit from 2016.

Points Report … Hemric and crew chief Josh Graham fired off strong out of the gate at DIS last Friday night. He was one of five drivers to earn points in both stages at Daytona and garnered 37 points, which has him fifth in the initial NCTS championship standings. Only 12 markers separate Hemric from the regular season points lead entering AMS.  

Tune In … Action from “Hotlanta” begins with pole qualifying on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) at 3:00 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. Race coverage follows on Saturday afternoon with the green flag flying at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1. on Stay connected with the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.

Daniel Hemric Quote:

On returning to AMS in the NCTS:

“Atlanta is a way different beast now and you have to be strategic with your moves and timing your runs, a lot like Daytona and Talladega. I’m really excited about it this weekend. We’re in NAPA’s backyard and have a lot of people coming out to support us on Saturday. I had some good runs in the Xfinity and Cup cars the last few years, and I think we can translate that to our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet this weekend. This truck has been really fast there the last two years, and if we can be efficient and execute, I think we’ll have a shot to win at the end.”