Hemric Honoring Carelli at NHMS
LOUDON, NH — Daniel Hemric enters Saturday’s UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway fifth in the standings. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender drives for NTS Motorsports owned by Bob Newberry. Despite the team’s strength over the last month, Hemric wants to get a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory.
“I wouldn’t say surprised by it,” Hemric said. “We’ve definitely been successful. We’ve made big gains since the start of the year back in Daytona. Everybody at NTS Motorsports works really hard and California Clean Power has been giving us the stuff we need to get better week in and week out. And everybody says ‘Man, you guys have been successful this year,’ but we’ll feel like we’re successful whenever we break into victory lane and we all want that really bad just for Bob Newberry and the amount of stuff that himself and Chevy have put into the program.”
Prior to rear end issues at the last race at Chicagoland, Hemric had a 5.8 average finish in the last five races. He recorded top fives at Eldora, Bristol, and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
“Definitely have been very solid and like you said it has been overlooked. But at the end of the day, obviously you just gotta do your job. Obviously last week if it could go wrong it did, but if you’re in big-time auto racing it happens. So we just gotta take that and learn from it, pick up where we left off weeks prior to that and make the most of it here at New Hampshire.”
NTS Motorsports did not have to look far for inspiration to recognize the 500th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. The California Clean Power No. 14 will use Rick Carelli’s white, blue, and red paint scheme from the inaugural race at Phoenix in 1995.
Carelli moved to the NASCAR SuperTruck Series after winning NASCAR Featherlite Southwest and NASCAR Winston West championships. He won four times in 134 starts from 1995-2002. He is now the team’s general manager and Hemric’s spotter.
“That’s a huge milestone. … I actually have a throwback paint scheme for his truck this weekend. Really cool to be a part of that and to be a fan of the sport, watch it progress. I was four years old, like you said, when the series started, so to watch it progress over the last 20 years is really something special. You try to look for those milestones when you start something new like the Camping World Truck Series 20 years ago and think man 500 starts think that will ever happen? Let alone, running a truck around the racetrack. So it really shows how much NASCAR’s put into the effort to make the truck series successful, the manufacturers how much they put into it.”
“His influence on me has been substantial over the last six or eight months. Being a guy who really keeps a lot of things rolling NTS Motorsports everything moving forward. As a driver, everyone knows his success, but as a businessman, as how to ruin a company, he’s just as good if not better at. So he’s been huge on helping me up on top of the spotters stand about the variables of every racetrack we go, to the characteristics, what to expect, whether it’s a bump off of two at Texas or vice versa. Just little stuff that you can’t experience unless you’re in the seat and to have a successful driver in Rick to lean on has been huge.”
Hemric comes to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series after success in INEX US Legends Cars. He won two national championships and the inaugural Legends Million, a $250,000 to win race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He won two championships in Stock Cars, the 2012 CRA JEGS All-Star Tour in the Midwest and the 2013 Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco in the Southeast.
“To hear people talk about it, it definitely takes you back. I’ve been very fortunate to have been with a lot of really good people to put me in those situations to win those championships in short track racing Legends Cars and Super Late Models and it ultimately led to this journey here in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. So it’s really to see how far I’ve been able to come with the support of a lot of really good people and NASCAR itself being the 500th start for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this weekend here at New Hampshire it’s really cool to be part of that. So it’s been a long road, it’s been a long journey, but it’s really cool to be here and hopefully we keep going forward.”
Hemric has raced over 30 short tracks from the quarter mile Anderson (IN) Speedway to Lucas Oil Raceway’s .686 mile oval before this season.
“It’s definitely, I feel, given me the tools I need to take on the challenges of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Ultimately we go to a lot of mile and a half racing, which is something I’ve never had experience in, and a lot of guys run ARCA cars and K&N stuff like that and I didn’t have that opportunity. So a lot of it is learned on the fly so, but having guys like Rick Carelli and all of my NTS Motorsports team guys to lean on they’ve made that curve a lot shorter. And ultimately I feel like everywhere we go after about four or five laps of practice we’re where we need to be We can go to work on our vehicles. It’s been fun. It’s been a learning experience for sure, but I feel like all of us have done our job and done everything we could do to make the most of it just gotta keep doing it.”
Hemric is another example of the new group of young talent getting opportunities in NASCAR’s top three series.
“I don’t want to be the pedestal so to say. But I feel like if I’ve been fortunate to make it happen, all those guys that grew up short track racing with that goal of wanting to get here, it can be done. So it’s really cool to show that if you work hard and you really devote yourself to this sport, what you can get out of it. So it’s been really neat hopefully it can be an influence to short track racers around the country, around the world. Just keep doing what you can do, make the most of it. It can happen.”
Hemric can use a Super Late Model test at Lucas Oil Raceway last week for this weekend’s race.
“(I) was able to take some stuff and put it in the mental bank as far as stuff that really help. And I really do believe a lot of that stuff translates … It’s all about feel, so you’re looking for that feel no matter if it’s a Legends Car, Late Model, or a truck. The way you go about it may be a little different, but the feel you want is all the same. So anything I did personally inside the seat to have success at those places I look for that again here.”
Hemric’s hometown is best known as the hometown of 7-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt. Hemric said the influence of Kannapolis, NC has “been huge.”
“I had to drive two or three miles down the road to see what I wanted out of racing being the Earnhardt shop and the museum. And it’s really cool to have something that close to home to give you something to shoot for, something to strive for, and that’s kind of always been my goal ever since I was younger since I can remember, five, six, seven years old. But now that I have the opportunity to race in the top three national series and know that goal is right around the corner and we’re just working hard to get there.”
Hemric is going to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis Sunday to watch his fiancée Kenzie Ruston in a JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour race. Ruston won a CRA Super Series there race at in 2011. Sunday’s Stacked Pickle 100 presented by Advanced Racing Suspensions will be her first CRA start since 2012. Hemric has 3 LOR wins in ARCA CRA Super Series and the CRA JEGS All-Star Tour.
Hemric put the crate Late Model together last season. William Byron had two top tens in three Pro Late Model races.
“That’s going to be a lot of fun. … At the end of the year, it got tore up a little bit and didn’t have the opportunity to put it back together. Been busy, really focusing on the NASCAR side of things and Kenzie’s like ‘I haven’t got the chance to race a whole lot. What’s the chances of us putting your Late Model back together?’ So we rounded up a little sponsorship here and there, and went and tested with her last week at IRP.”
… To take her back to a place she loves, a place I’ve really enjoyed and had success at in ORP, and have a group of guys hauling out there and doing the deal, so I don’t have to worry about it. I just want to show up and watch her have fun.”
Hemric is planning two major Super Late Model races, the Winchester 400 October 11 and the Snowball Derby December 6. Hemric’s best finishes came in 2013, fifth at Winchester and 20th at Five Flags.
“(The Winchester 400) One of the crown jewels I’ve been close on winning over the past, but never been able to make it happen as well as the Snowball Derby. That’s one I’ve really put a lot of effort into this year. We’re going to be doing a little testing down there to try to take that Snowball home. Man I’ve been so close on that deal. It’s tough to swallow how close we’ve been, but putting in a lot of effort in that side of things. But this is the focus the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and finishing the 2015 season off right.”
Hemric does not have a deal for next season with NTS Motorsports.
“I don’t have anything set in stone by (any) means. Got California Clean Power’s been a huge supporter of mine this year, made all this possible. So just in negotiation with those guys and see if we can get those folks to step back onboard and the rest kind of take care of itself. Not really sure what’s going to end up happening, but just really thankful for the opportunity this year.”
Hemric wants to add a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in the remaining seven races and feels the team is close.
“I’d like to think all of us come here for one reason, that’s to win races. … It’s so close we’re really, really striving hard to get to that point. All these guys are working harder than ever and that’s the biggest thing. Everybody’s gotta want the same thing on the team and everybody’s got to show up for the same reason and that’s what we’re doing. So we’ll try to keep doing that and hopefully it works out for us.”
Hemric has a number of supporters to thank for this season.
“Just really thankful for California Clean Power, Bob Newberry, everybody at NTS Motorsports who’s made this Camping World Truck Series season’s what’s it’s been. It wouldn’t be possible without those guys. Obviously our supporters Bell Helmets, Sparco, Racing Electronics, MPI steering wheels, a lot of guys that never get enough credit for what they’re doing for us. Chevy they’ve been a huge part of our success of late. All of the guys that really doing what they can for us and just trying to make the most of what we can for them.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com
Racing-Reference.info
TheThirdturn.com