LONG POND, Pa. – Finishing third in the NASCAR Xfinity Series is beginning to become a habit for Daniel Hemric and Richard Childress Racing this season.
Hemric scored his fourth-such result in the last seven races on Saturday at Pocono Raceway, coming in behind winner Kyle Busch and runner-up Chase Elliott in the Pocono Green 250.
The Kannapolis, N.C. native rose from 11th on the grid to the podium at the finish, despite getting shuffled back during the second stage of Saturday’s race and having to overcome an extra pit stop for tires before the start of the final stage.
Hemric had pitted just before the second stage break and was in line to inherit a heap of track position before having to come back down pit road to deal with a vibration, charging through traffic later on.
“Today was kind of a chicken salad day for us,” said Hemric. “We struggled trying to get track position early. We thought we had a lot more speed in our South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet than what we started the day off with. It was really hard to make runs and make passes. We could get side by side, but it all depended on what the guy behind you did … whether he went with you or went with the guy you were racing. It seemed like I was always the guy that didn’t get any help.
“It was just one of those situations where we had to battle and overcome, and when you have a day where you struggle like that and then finally get the track position and have the speed, it makes it worthwhile because you feel like you made and got more than what you had,” added Hemric. “At this stage in the season, that’s what you have to do to put yourself in contention (for wins and to make the playoffs).”
Though it might not have looked like it at first, Hemric’s vibration might have actually played into his favor by the end of the race, as fresh rubber and handling came into play despite the low-downforce, high-drag and restrictor plate package utilized at Pocono during the race weekend.
“In the grand scheme of things, I think coming back and getting four tires really did pay off for us,” Hemric admitted. “We’d talked about it before the race and agreed that if things worked out in a perfect scenario that we’d do exactly what we did. The issue was we had a bit of a vibration that actually forced our hand to come back down and get the extra tires, but it also got us a couple extra seconds of fuel that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. The 19 (Jones) ran out of gas at the end and he and I were on the exact same strategy, so sometimes the unfortunate is fortunate and it ended up being that way for us.”
Late in the race, Hermric charged around polesitter Cole Custer for second before engaging in a torrid battle down the stretch with former super late model rival and fellow short track ace Elliott for the spot.
“That battle (for second) at the end was a battle of keeping the front tires on the car all day … and the majority of the field struggled with that, I think, especially as they got closer to someone,” explained Hemric. “You could catch someone pretty easily, but then keeping the front tires on the car and turning on exit was a struggle. Danny Stockman (crew chief) kept adjusting and got the rotation better and better to where I could run longer and longer, and then at the end running the higher pace just made our front air pressure skyrocket.”
“I was able to hold him (Elliott) off about five laps longer than I thought,” Hemric noted. “I thought if I could get to the white I could hold him, but he was substantially better at rolling the center exit than I was. Chase is always fun to race with, though; he and I go way back … all the way back to our super late model days on the Gulf Coast. It was cool to be able to mix it up with those guys today and have a good run.”
Not only did Hemric collect another third-place finish on Saturday, he also leaves Pocono third in the regular season point standings, 63 back of leader Elliott Sadler but only one marker behind Cole Custer.
However, Hemric has his sights on another number going forward: the number one.
“I just want to win, man,” said Hemric. “I’m tired of third. This team deserves to win and I want to give that to them.”
