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Bob PockrassNASCAR
CONCORD, N.C. — Daniel Hemric flirted with going to other teams but will replace Ryan Newman in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richard Childress Racing starting in 2019.
Hemric is second in the Xfinity Series standings in his second year at RCR as he eyes his second consecutive trip to the championship round. Last year, he finished fourth in the standings.
Winless in the Xfinity Series, the 27-year-old Hemric has 20 top-5s in 60 career starts at RCR. While he hasn’t won in the series, Hemric talked to other teams (including Leavine Family Racing) before coming to an agreement with RCR, which decided a month ago not to renew its deal with Newman.
“All along in my heart, I knew where I wanted to be and this was the path and this is where I wanted to land no matter how it shook out,” Hemric said Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “There were times … where I looked at [Childress] and said, ‘Please help me not make this decision.’
“And that’s exactly what he did. He made it to where he knew this is where I wanted to be, and no matter what was being offered or thrown at me that if it can be worked out in some way, shape or form, RCR was my home.”
Caterpillar will return to sponsor the team and other partners are still to be announced, team president Torrey Galida said. Team owner Richard Childress said it is possible they change the car number from No. 31 to No. 8 — the number of Dale Earnhardt’s father, Ralph, and because the fact Hemric comes from the same hometown of Kannapolis.
“I’ve been watching Daniel since he was a young boy. … I saw then the talent that Daniel had,” Childress said. “To be able to make the largest move of his career and put him in a Cup car, I think back to other drivers like Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Ty [Dillon] — these are the drivers that I looked at their talent when they were very young and fortunate to put them in cars and be able to go out and win races.
“Daniel falls right in the line with those guys. He has all the talent it takes to win. He will be a winner. He will race for championships.”
Newman, who has driven the RCR No. 31 car the past five seasons and will move to Roush Fenway Racing after this season, has 18 career victories in a full-time Cup career that started in 2002. The 40-year-old Newman has won just once in his five seasons at RCR, but he finished second in the Cup standings in 2014 and made the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.
Hemric now steps into the car looking to help improve where that team is running. Having limited funding behind him as he rose through the NASCAR ranks, Hemric was emotional as he talked about his journey.
“All those [long] nights, that’s what it’s all about, right?” Hemric said. “So many people want to have this opportunity and they work their whole life for it.”