By
NAPA
Daniel Hemric’s afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway ended early after a flat right rear tire triggered an accident and an early retirement. The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST finished 34th after suffering hard contact following a cut tire and sits 32 points below the cut line in seventh position in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series playoff standings with one race remaining in the Round of 8.
Hemric took the green flag in 17th position on Friday afternoon and wasted no time moving towards the front. He utilized both lanes of the draft to advance inside the top-10 just three laps into the event. On lap four, Hemric suffered severe contact to the right side of his Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet as a multi-truck accident triggered beside of him on the frontstretch. He sustained damage to the right-side door and significant harm to the right front and right rear fenders.
Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt took command of the damage control efforts as Hemric made multiple pit stops to address the harm. He restarted at the tail of the draft on lap eight and rebounded to charge into the top 10 by the end of Stage 1 to collect one point on lap 20.
The Gates Hydraulics crew made additional repairs during the stage caution to address the right-side fenders and mitigate the rubs on both right-side tires. Consequently, Hemric restarted 34th on lap 27 and went forward once again in Stage 2. He advanced to 15th by lap 32 and restarted ninth on lap 36. Hemric’s maneuvers to progress forward came up just shy of additional points as he ran 11th at the end of Stage 2 on lap 40.
Under the subsequent stage caution, Hemric made two more pit stops as he continued to endure tire rubs from bodywork contacting the right rear tire. Despite the repairs, Hemric cut a right rear tire in the middle of the draft on lap 53. He also sustained terminal damage to the rear of his Chevrolet after absorbing severe contact from the No. 5 truck. Upon assessing the damage on pit road, Hemric drove to the garage area and was dealt a 34th-place finish.
“We cut a right rear tire,” Hemric said after the incident. “We had damage from lap five or six and really the Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet was destroyed. We were fortunate enough to just constantly getting it more and more clearanced. We were out of right rear tires, and being out of tires, we needed more so we didn’t have a used tire where the side wall was almost worn through from the damage. We didn’t have any to put on and NASCAR wouldn’t give us one, so it was a bunch of things for a while there. Finally, one of the tires we put back on, it blew down the back straightaway and felt like I was going to have to get to pit road. There was no yellow and I got smoked from behind, 15 or 20 seconds after the tire went down. That was strange and kind of unfortunate that we were in that situation.”
Hemric will enter the final race of the second round at Martinsville Speedway 32 points behind the provisional cut line to advance to the championship finale.
Start / Finish: 17 / 34
Points Standing / Total: 7th / -32 below cutline
Next Race: Friday, Oct. 24, Martinsville Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 6:00 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
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