After losing his NASCAR Cup Series ride with Richard Childress Racing, Daniel Hemric dropped down to the Xfinity Series level with JR Motorsports. On Thursday, he announced he will run twenty-one of the thirty-three races on the Xfinity schedule, driving the #8 Chevrolet Camaro for JRM.
Hemric won Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2019 with RCR, but was replaced by Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick at season’s end. He finished his lone full Cup season twenty-fifth in points with two top-ten finishes, including a fifth at Talladega Superspeedway. Afterwards, JRM signed Hemric for a part-time schedule in the #8, sharing it with Jeb Burton and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.; Earnhardt will run just the Homestead-Miami Speedway race, while Burton takes over the ride for the eleven remaining races.
After sitting out the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Hemric will make his JRM début at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he finished sixth in his latest Xfinity start there in 2018. This is followed by completing the three-race West Coast swing at Auto Club Speedway (fifth in 2018) and Phoenix Raceway (second in the penultimate race in 2018). Atlanta Motor Speedway sees his final start in the #8 before Earnhardt and Burton take over at Homestead and Texas Motor Speedway; Hemric recorded a top ten at the 1.5-miler in 2017.
Hemric’s lone start in April will come at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he finished third in the spring 2018 event but crashed out in the summer round. After another month-long break as Burton races at Talladega, and Dover International Speedway, Hemric will return at Charlotte Motor Speedway before tackling the road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He finished seventh in his last NXS start at Charlotte on the oval, while his most recent Mid-Ohio race ended with a third.
After Burton runs the Michigan International Speedway race, Hemric occupies the #8 for both Iowa Speedway races in June and August; he finished third and eleventh in those rounds in 2018. Between the two dates, Hemric’s summer schedule consists of Chicagoland Speedway (fifth in 2018), Pocono Raceway (third in 2018, scored his second Cup top ten in 2019), and Kentucky Speedway (second).
Following Iowa, Hemric will run every August race at Road America (third in 2018), Watkins Glen International (best run of eleventh in 2017), Dover (third in the 2018 spring race), and Daytona (lone top ten came in the second race in 2018). His final regular season start comes at Darlington Raceway (best finish is eleventh in 2018) before Burton races the next two weekends.
Hemric’s playoff schedule comprises four races: Las Vegas, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (finished tenth in 2018), Kansas Speedway (second in 2018 after starting from the pole), and the season finale at Phoenix.
In two full Xfinity seasons with RCR, Hemric qualified for the Championship Round both years with thirty-nine top tens and a third-place run in 2018.
