Hemric, Dillon talk lessons learned running K&N Pro Series race
SONOMA, Calif. — Three drivers in the 32-car NASCAR K&N Pro Series West field Saturday (June 22) at Sonoma Raceway are pulling double duty between the aforementioned series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday.
Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon and Ryan Preece finished 2nd, 3rd and 20th respectively in the Saturday race, each earning an extra 57 laps of track time.
Hemric, competing for Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the Cup Series, will turn his first laps in a premier-series racecar Sunday.
“Track time’s track time,” Hemric said to The Racing Experts. “It’s my first time being at this place.
“On the Cup side of things, we’ve applied a lot of stuff to try to help me get up to speed… It’s got to mean something, so I’m thankful for that.
“I’ve been leaning on [teammate Austin Dillon] heavily the last couple of weeks, hopefully we can both have good showings tomorrow, but running laps was a key, we completed all the laps.”
Dillon will be competing in his sixth Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway, with his highest finish being 16th in last year’s race.
“Tires matter, like I said, that’s the biggest thing,” Dillon said to The Racing Experts.
“The first 25 (laps), I had a good car, and it never went green like that again, I kinda needed that.”
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 Sunday (June 23) at 3 p.m. ET.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.