By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
It was a day of learning for Daniel Hemric in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at Richmond Raceway.
At the beginning of the race, Hemric was battling a tight race car due to being on the same tires he qualified. Hemric took the blame for what happened at the start.
“It was obviously my fault not getting it to where it needed to be to start the race. There on the qualifying tires, I was unbelievably tight; I just couldn’t do anything or manage anything I wanted to do. We lost a couple of laps there taking off,” Hemric said.
With the race going green for most of the race, Hemric and his No. 8 team were unable to get the cautions they needed. Once the issues were solved, Hemric knew that he and his team could compete with the guys that race each week in the series.
By the end of the day, it just goes to show, once we got the race car where I needed it, we had the pace and we had the ability to race guys and we passed cars and we raced with good guys all night after the first stint, and that side of it was a learning progress and that got me to where I felt like I could race with these guys. I wish we had a clean slate and we could do it over again right now, but it is what it is and we’ll roll along,” Hemric said.
The night was what Hemric had thought it would be coming into the weekend. For him, there was no difference in driving in the NASCAR XFINITY Series versus the Cup series, once the car gets dialed.
“It’s really no different from what I thought it would be coming in. These guys are the best at this. The intensity level is that much higher just like everyone I had talked to prepare for this race told me. At the end of the day, once you get the race car where you need it, it’s not that all different. It’s just racing,” Hemric continued.
Despite the issues at the start, the rookie driver had a blast in his first Cup start and hopes to get more opportunities to race at the Cup level.
“It was fun to run a race of that length and to make the cars better. It was fun to move around the racetrack. From what I could tell, the race for the win was pretty awesome. I wish I was up and part of it. I’m just thankful for everything and the opportunity to be here,” Hemric continued.