Daniel Hemric nets career-best finish despite late-race woes

HAMPTON, Ga. — Daniel Hemric endured late-race heartbreak at Atlanta Motor Speedway after what could have been his first career top-five in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Hemric found himself running inside the top five near the conclusion of the race until a right-front tire went flat with 16 laps to go, which relegated the driver to a 20th-place finish.

“I thought we were going to put ourselves in position to have a solid day,” Hemric told Team Chevy post race. “I made a lot of mistakes, way too many mistakes than what you can make at this level to even have a shot to run top five and still found ourselves in position there to do it and just had a right front tire come a part on our Alsco/Red Kap Camaro ZL1.

“That was the end of it, but the good thing is I feel like it put a little motivation in everybody here at RCR. That is the kind of race cars we have to have at the race track every week to give ourselves a shot. It was fun to drive, fun to pass people and look forward to next week.”

Despite the heartbreak, Daniel Hemric still had a career day in Atlanta.

Hemric’s finish of 20th is a career-best finish in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition. Hemric will make his first career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend.

Although the driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet has never made a start in the Cup Series at Las Vegas, he posted a sixth-place effort in the Xfinity Series last year at the Nevada speedway.

Matt Courson contributed to this story.

SOURCES:
Team Chevrolet
Racing-Reference