Momentum Builds for Hemric Entering Martinsville
Venue: Martinsville Speedway
Event: Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200
Date: Friday, March 28
Location: Ridegeway, VA
Track Description: 0.526-mile oval
Distance: 200 laps, 105.2 miles (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX, Motor Racing Network)
Momentum Building … Momentum is building for Daniel Hemric as he returns to the shortest track on the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) calendar on Friday evening. The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST banked his first top-five finish of the season a week ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS) and looks to continue MHR’s grasp at Martinsville Speedway. The last two NCTS events at “The Paperclip” were dominated by the No. 19 entry with Christian Eckes leading a combined 320 laps and swept the season. Hemric has come close to earning a grandfather clock in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) with a pair of podium finishes, but hopes Friday is his time to break through to victory lane.
Back to Where it Began … Hemric is returning to the venue of his first-career NASCAR start. The 34-year-old made his NASCAR debut in the NCTS event at Martinsville back in October of 2014. Since that day, Hemric has made 15 starts at “The Paperclip” across all three national divisions and hopes to add to MHR’s success at the Virginia bull ring. Hemric scored a pair of third-place finishes in the NXS in 2021 and has one top-10 to his credit in the NCTS. He will debut the white and red Gates Hyrdraulics color scheme which went to victory lane last November as he looks to earn his first Martinsville triumph.
Points Report … A third-place finish last Friday night at HMS gained Hemric one position in the championship standings and currently resides seventh on the board after four races. He has tallied one top-five finishes, two top-10’s, and has earned points in six of the eight stages thus far. In the two races at Martinsville last season, MHR earned a pair of wins, three top-five’s and four top-10 finishes.
Tune In … Action from the first short track race of 2025 gets underway with practice and qualifying at 2:00 p.m. ET on Friday on FOX Sports 2. Coverage moves to FOX Sports 1 for the green flag at 7:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Daniel Hemric Quote:
On the first short track race of 2025:
“I’m really encouraged with the last couple of weeks and looking forward to Friday night at Martinsville. Our Gates Hydraulics team has been evolving through these first few races and I thought we did a great job of putting a consistent night together last week. We just need to continue that process this weekend, and we have a great opportunity in front of us. Obviously, this No. 19 truck was dominant last year, so we have a good starting point. Hopefully we can execute a clean night and get the same result.”