Hemric Poised for a Rebound in the Poconos
Venue: Pocono Raceway
Events: Miller Tech Battery 200
Date: Friday, June 20
Location: Long Pond, PA
Track Description: 2.5-mile tri oval
Distance: 80 laps, 200 miles (5:00 p.m. ET – FOX, Motor Racing Network)
On the Rebound … Daniel Hemric is poised for a rebound on Friday afternoon in his third NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) start at Pocono Raceway. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST had built a career-long streak of six consecutive top-10 finishes before a late-race incident at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) relegated him to finish outside the top 20. As the regular season winds down, Hemric is determined to compete for his first victory at “The Tricky Triangle” and restart another string of consistency.
Old-School Consistency … During the first half of the season, Hemric has used that old-school consistency to place himself near the front of the NCTS field. The North Carolinian has finished inside the top-15 in all but two events thus far and has notched six of his nine top-10 results in the previous seven races. Hemric and the NAPA Auto Care team have displayed a resilient character through the first 13 races and have immediately responded with top-five finishes following results outside the top-10 on two occasions. Hemric is determined to erase his most recent finish at MIS with his first victory in the Pocono mountains and cushion in his playoff point total.
Season to Date … Hemric holds the third position in the NCTS drivers’ point standings after 13 races courtesy of his victory at Martinsville Speedway in March, along with six top-five’s and nine top-10 finishes. His consistent effort throughout the year has netted him the second-best average finish of all NCTS drivers, 8.7 and also has the third highest average starting position among that group (9.4).
Tune In … On-track activity at Pocono Raceway begins on Friday afternoon with practice and qualifying starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2, followed by the green flag at 5:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. 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 racing at Pocono:
“Pocono is a really fast place, similar to Michigan, and restarts will be pretty intense this week. Pit strategy will be critical, too, and you want to give yourself some options for the last stop so you can maintain track position. We did a good job at Michigan to put ourselves in contention until the chaos at the end, so hopefully we can do the same this week with our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet. Pocono is a place that usually rewards execution, everything from pit stops to restarts to race pace. It takes the whole package to run well there and we’re looking forward to putting our NAPA Chevy up front at the end of the day. We’d like to get another win before the playoffs start and this is a good opportunity for us.”