Daniel Hemric’s first NASCAR win was an Xfinity Championship. He bet on himself to achieve it

Daniel Hemric’s breakthrough victory came in the final race of the season. The winning move came in the final seconds.

Austin Cindric led 114 laps of the 204-lap race at Phoenix as the perpetual restart leader in the final 25 laps. A late caution forced an overtime restart, and Hemric again lined up on the inside lane to race Cindric straight-up. The green flag waved. They ran side-by-side through the final two laps, and then through the checkered flag, as Hemric moved into Cindric’s left side down the frontstretch and edged the nose of his No. 18 Toyota Supra a tick ahead of Cindric’s car at the finish line.

Hemric, after a season of so-close finishes, became an Xfinity Series Champion with the first race win in his NASCAR career.

“This is the American dream,” Hemric said after completing a winners’ backflip. “I’m living proof of it.”

The 30-year-old driver from Kannapolis, N.C. has entered more than 200 national series NASCAR races. He had yet to make it to Victory Lane before Saturday, despite top finishes. Hemric showed restraint during last weekend’s cutoff race at Martinsville, opting to ensure his spot in the championship event on points rather than with a win in an intense closing laps. He instead placed third for the sixth time this season.

The restraint paid off a week later, as two of Hemric’s Championship 4 competitors, Noah Gragson and A.J. Allmendinger, struggled with the balance of their cars at the one-mile oval. Allmendinger hovered out of the top five throughout the race. Gragson made it up to third in the final laps, but slid up the corner and scraped the wall as Hemric trailed Cindric before the final restart.

After Martinsville and the many questions about whether this would be his first win, Hemric said he didn’t want to lose the race from the second row. He’d bet on himself. He’d be aggressive with Cindric, who accepted defeat.

“Until you spin somebody out, it’s not dirty racing,” Cindric said after the race.

Hemric’s last win was in 2015 racing for himself. He recalled a night in 2010 when he was pumping gas from his legends car into his Honda Civic to make a drive home after a late race because he didn’t have enough money at the time. Hemric has been racing since he was five years old and said that there was no other option than to bet on himself and his racing career.

That’s what he convinced sponsor Poppy Bank before his first full-time Xfinity Season with powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing. Even thought, he’ll be at a different team next year as the driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, the excitement from the team and manufacturer camp wasn’t dulled. His championship was the third Xfinity Series driver title for Toyota.

“He is probably one of the most least polarizing champions our sport has seen,” Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson said. “He is such a good guy. We have wanted so badly to help bring him into winner’s circle all season.”

Hemric celebrated his championship by flipping from his car, and hugged his wife, Kenzie, and their baby daughter, Rhen. And he soaked in a moment he’d dreamed about months before that was years in the making.

“(To) have those dreams, if you want to call them, to be able to live them out,” Hemric said. “(It’s) pretty life changing. For sure something I won’t forget for the rest of my life.

NASCAR Xfinity race results

# rookie, (i) ineligible for points, (P) playoff driver

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription