Despite arriving as one of the top contenders in the NASCAR Xfinity Series over the past two seasons with Richard Childress Racing, Daniel Hemric isn’t entirely sure what he will be doing next year.
“Cloudy,” Hemric said of his future. “Very cloudy.”
Hemric raced his way into the Championship Race last season for Childress and even made his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut with the organization last season. He is third in the championship standings and will even make one more Cup Series start next month at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
Childress will have three ownership charters next season once StarCom Racing returns the one it lent for 2018. But it’s not clear if RCR plans to field three entries — much less one for Hemric.
But the 27-year-old believes Childress is exploring all options to keep him in the fold for the 2019 season. Hemric grew up in Kannapolis, North Carolina, and is an old family friend of Austin and Ty Dillon — Childress’ Cup Series racing grandsons.
“It’s obviously good to be a part of the conversation,” Hemric said. “You hope in life you have opportunities to do your part and make sure you make it tough for people to figure out what they want to do with you. I’m extremely thankful for South Point Hotel and Casino and (team owner) Richard Childress for giving me a shot to wake up on the weekends and go drive a race car for a living. I try to grab (all this) by the horns and understand that the position I’m in is second to none, and all of us are fortunate to do what we do and call it a job. That’s incredible still to think about.
“I don’t know where it’s going to end up or how it’s going to all play out. But I know Richard’s doing all he can to make sure hopefully there’s a spot for me, and if there’s not, I’ll feel out any option out there because as of right now, I don’t have my name signed on any line for the following year. I’m trying to do everything I can on the racetrack to prove to somebody who may be willing to put me in a car and give me a shot — and hopefully, when that shot comes, I can take advantage of it.”
– Matt Weaver is an associate motorsports editor at Autoweek. Before becoming a journalist, he was a dirt track racer and short track cheeseburger connoisseur.
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