FORT WORTH, TX: Daniel Hemric had a fast No. 18 Craftsman Toyota Supra in Saturday afternoon’s Andy Frozen Custard 335k at Texas Motor Speedway, but just not fast enough.
For the third time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, Hemric finished second behind Joe Gibbs Racing teammate John Hunter Nemechek and continues to search for his first career NASCAR victory with the checkered flag on the year just three races away.
A Lap 173 caution sent much of the field to pit road for the final pit stop of the afternoon with Hemric in the lead.
Nemechek who took two tires led the group off pit lane with Hemric not far behind.
Restarting in the top-five, Hemric charged to third and found himself chasing his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates for control of the race. Two laps into the restart, Hemric made the pass on Harrison Burton who elected to stay on the track under the caution.
With Burton in the rear-view mirror, the win was between Nemechek and Hemric. With Nemechek in clear air, his No. 54 Toyota Supra was able to put some distance between himself and the No. 18 Toyota.
In the closing laps of the race, Hemric was able to knock the deficit down to six-tenths of a second but once back in clear air and despite being on two older tires, Nemechek pulled way and with Hemric finishing 1.316 seconds at the checkered flag.
After the race, Hemric said the final restart with so little laps remaining didn’t’ work to his advantage, as well as a tight-handling No. 18 Craftsman Toyota Supra.
“They made a really good call to take two (tires) there,” said Hemric after the race. “Obviously, clean air was so big and when we had clean air with our No. 18 Craftsman Toyota Supra there at one point and it was really good.
“Even earlier when the No. 54 was better than us, he was a little freer. I just couldn’t quite carry the same mid-corner exit speed. Dave Rogers (crew chief) made good adjustments all day to get it better and once we got the clean air, we pretty well checked out, then the caution came out and they just made a good call to take two and it’s damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”
Restarting the race with just 20 laps left on the board, Hemric wasn’t sure if four tires would make up the difference over the final 30 miles of the race.
“It just didn’t work out,” added Hemric. “I was just too tight there. Never got far enough into the run where tires could make a difference and with 20 laps to go, you’re not going to overcome the gap that I needed to make up.”
In his quest to earn his first Xfinity Series victory, Hemric left nothing on the table and said he about crashed his car three or four times trying to rundown his teammate.
“I was whipping it for all I had,” he said. “About pounded the fence there three or four times trying to catch him. Really fast JGR Supra, just wasn’t good enough.”
With two races remaining in the Xfinity Series Playoffs, Hemric stands just one point below the cutline and with a non-Playoff driver capturing the victory at Texas, two opportunities remain for a Playoff driver to advance to the Championship 4 with a victory next weekend at Kansas Speedway or the penultimate race of the year at Martinsville (Va.) Raceway on Oct. 30.
His approach is similar to Texas.
“Same as we have all the Playoffs. Keep bringing the same bullets,” he said. “These guys are doing a hell of a job. Just got to keep working. I don’t know, that’s all you can do. Keep showing up, keep grinding it out. Thankful to be a part of the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
“Thankful to know that I can leave it all on the line these next three races for Joe Gibbs Racing and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
