By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Daniel Hemric had a close call Friday during his single-car qualifying lap at Dover International Speedway.
After taking the green in his No. 8 Catapillar Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, the rookie broke loose in Turn 1, ending his shot at a competitive first lap.
With the 2019 aero package playing large effect on corner speeds, Hemric enjoyed watching his competitors dive into the high-banked corners… maybe too much.
“I watched them drive down the hill into Turn 1 and I pumped myself up so much watching it,” Hemric said. “I drove in there really agressive, caught the left front on the apron a little and it got me out of whack and up the track.”
After chasing his vehicle up the track, he had but one lap to salvage a starting position for Sunday’s Gander RV 400.
“It was all about optimizing my second lap at that point,” he said. “Luckily, we were able to do that. I think I left a little more out there but I’d rather be too aggressive than not at all.”
Lining up 23rd for the 11th round of 2019, Hemric has lots to learn in Saturday’s Happy Hour practice.
“A lot of longer runs not knowing what the tires are going to do and what the package is going to do throughout the course of a run,” he said. “Everyone knows this track goes through a huge swing of changes once the rubber builds. Hopefully, we can get the track rubbered in tomorrow and tune in on our Camaro and see where we get it.
“400 laps around this place is grueling. You don’t want to be swatting flies.”
The fortunate side of the No. 8 team this weekend is what happened one week ago: A career-best finish of fifth at Talladega. The unfortunate stat for the crew, however, is that in seven of the 10 races in 2019, Hemric finished worse than he started.
Though the starting effort is low, Hemric knows he’s in good company for the opening stage.
“There are still a lot of good cars around us,” he said. “We’re going to be able to maintain them and migrate ourselves forward.”