By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Entering Kansas Speedway as two of the favorites to rise into the fourth spot in the Championship 4, Daniel Hemric and Cole Custer each suffered setbacks in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series Round of 8 opener.
Hemric’s Mistake
For most of the Kansas Lottery 300, Hemric seemed poised for a good finish and positive momentum towards his 2017 championship campaign.
Then came the final round of pit stops – and race-altering penalty.
Hemric’s was running in the back half of the top 10 when he joined the rest of the field on pit road for final pit stops on Lap 140 of 200. At first the North Carolinian’s stop appeared to go off without a hitch, but afterward he was issued a one-lap penalty for completing a stop outside of his pit box.
The mistake was one Hemric claimed went to him alone.
“I’ll take the blame on that one,” Hemric told Kickin’ the Tires. “I struggled getting into the pit box all day and getting the Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet pointed the right way. I put some rear brake into it and just got too aggressive. I was trying to get all I could get and overstepped it. It put us in a bad spot for the pit stop, and the car was over the line.
“The guys already had the right-front tire off the car and put the sticker tire on before we backed up. We got penalized a lap for that.”
Hemric fought back over the ensuing green-flag run, rising to 20th to place himself in the free pass position should the yellow flag fly. But a caution never came, trapping the 26-year-old a lap down until the checkered flag flew. His afternoon ended in 18th-place.
As a result of his poor run, Hemric left Kansas Speedway seventh in the championship standings. He’ll need to close up a six-point gap on fourth-place Brennan Poole to make the Championship 4.
Despite his deficit, Hemric left Kansas confident that his Richard Childress Racing team can survive to Homestead-Miami Speedway if they execute in the final two races of the Round of 8.
“The name of the game is pressure, and you have to rise up,” Hemric said. “Today we didn’t do that. I did not do that. I’ve just got to do better, and we’ll be fine moving forward.”
Custer’s Tire Woes
While Hemric’s issue came in the race’s middle stages, Custer’s tough break came in the race’s closing moments.
With a potential top 10 in sights, Custer was maneuvering his No. 00 Ford around the 1.5-mile Kansas oval when he ran over a piece of debris, flattening his right-front tire.
The result? A 19th-place finish, and an eight-point deficit on the playoff bubble.
“We were a solid car, could have done better,” Custer said afterward. “We fought hard to keep it in the top 10. We got good stage points. Nothing we could do at the end of the race because we ran over something late in the race and crippled the right front. It’s just how it goes. There was a big cut in the tire and had to pit.”
With only eight points separating the final final drivers in the playoff grid, a spot in the Championship 4 is still within reach for each remaining driver in the postseason field.
Custer hopes that the three tracks remaining on the XFINITY Series circuit will suit his team and enable them to find success.
“We didn’t race here all year so it was hard to know what to expect,” Custer said of Kansas. “We got our car better all day. This place isn’t our strong suit. I think we have some good tracks coming up for the 00 team.”