DOVER Del. — Never seeing Dover (Del.) International Speedway before practice Thursday, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Daniel Hemric proved that his inexperience didn’t lack in performance during Friday’s Lucas Oil 200.
And even with a subpar qualifying effort of 19th, the NTS Motorsports driver avoided carnage early and steadily climbed his way through the field and found himself contending for his second top-10 finish of the season.
Not only did the Kannapolis, North Carolina wheel his No. 14 California Clean Power Chevrolet Silverado to a career-best finish, but his fourth place finish thanks to strategy is a season-best for NTS Motorsports. Bettering his 10th place finish earlier this month at Kansas Speedway, the former Late Model standout finds himself ninth in the championship standings after six races.
“This was a great race for NTS Motorsports and the California Clean Power Chevy, something that this team really needed,” said Hemric. “We’ve had fast trucks week in and week out, but we’ve fallen short of the finishes we deserved. This track is a challenge and the finish was hard fought; I’m so glad that we could earn a top five here. I have to give a lot of credit my crew chief Ryan McKinney and to this NTS Motorsports team for the fast truck they built me, the great calls they made during the race and our amazing pit stops.
“I honestly don’t think we’ve lost a single position on pit road this season because of a pit stop; we’re always gaining or maintaining. I really believe we’ve got one of the best crews on pit road. I’m so thankful to California Clean Power for their support; from the first time I watched a race in Dover, I wanted a chance to race here so badly, and this was really fun.”
With two strong runs in the book and the thick of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season still on the horizon, the confidence from Hemric should only continue to build.
Hemric will race his way back to North Carolina Friday night to see girlfriend and female standout Kenzie Ruston compete in Saturday night’s NASCAR Hall of Fame 150 at Bowman-Gray (N.C.) Stadium. She drives for Rev Racing as part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.
NTS Motorsports entered the weekend with one truck after sponsorship failed to materialize for the team’s second entry, the No. 31 Chevrolet Silverado which was expected to be driven by James Buescher. Bob Newberry, owner of NTS Motorsports told CATCHFENCE.com before the race that the team had not made a decision about running the No. 31 Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway next Friday night.
However, Newberry said that the number would return at Gateway (Ill.) Motorsports Park in two weeks with a new driver behind the wheel.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
