Rhen Haven Hemric stayed up past her bedtime on Saturday evening. She was in her pajamas, but the 1.5-year-old was front and center for a 12:30 a.m. photo shoot on Sunday morning.
That’s because her father, Daniel Hemric, scored his first-ever Nascar victory in stunning fashion. Hemric, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in his final race with the team, narrowly beat Team Penske’s Austin Cindric at Phoenix Raceway in a photo finish en route to capturing the 2021 Nascar Xfinity Series championship.
“She was in bed when that all went sideways — well, when it went good for us,” Hemric joked. “In the moments since, some of the candid shots where you can tell my wife and I are just looking at each other and our little girl is running around, I’ll have the mental pictures for the rest of my life.
“I can’t imagine not having our little girl there. I can’t imagine not having my wife Kenzie through the process. That is what it’s all about on the personal side of things, and I’m so grateful for all of it.”
Hemric’s championship triumph is as sweet as it gets for the driver labeled by Bubba Wallace as the “best guy in the garage.” Since 2013, Hemric circled around Nascar tracks across America — going full time starting in 2015 — coming oh so close to victories. But he was 0-207 until last Saturday night in Phoenix.
With a signature backflip that Hemric is accustomed to performing after winning at short tracks, he began celebrating the biggest victory of his life. The win is more than that, however, because it shows why his journey from the Cup Series back to the Xfinity Series is worthwhile.
“For whatever reason, the timing was right for us and for me, my career and where I’m at,” Hemric said. “I think about the growth, the process and the struggles at the Cup level, getting back here and you feel like your life is unraveling from a career standpoint, which affects the personal standpoint.”
The struggles along the way, including being let go by Richard Childress Racing after just one full-time Cup Series season in 2019, have evidently pushed Hemric to become a better man. He firmly believes his demotion happened for a reason, and it pushed him to appreciate every opportunity more than before.
“Because of that, I’m a better person, a better father, a better person and for damn sure a better person than I was before,” Hemric said. “I’ve developed so many more friendships over the past couple of years that I’m so thankful for. Now, they all get to enjoy this and they’ve all been part of that. I’m not losing sight of the perspective of this.”
Prior to Hemric’s victory, he was known as the guy who always finished second. In the Xfinity Series alone, he finished runner-up 10 times, tied with Dale Jarrett for the most in series history before his first win.
Hemric’s 2021 season, leading up to the championship race, was a reflection of his career thus far. He dominated races, finished consistently inside of the top 10, but also fell victim to the same mistakes that plagued him in the past. His No. 18 team led a chunk of laps, but didn't emerge as a title favorite.
Then, Hemric announced in late September — the day of the playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — he would depart Joe Gibbs Racing for Kaulig Racing in 2022. His current team picked up its pace in the six races after his big news, with only one finish worse than fifth. Typically, when a driver is changing teams, it becomes a lame duck scenario with no end goal in sight. That wasn’t the case here.
“A lot of the guys going into Phoenix legitimately didn’t know what they’re doing next year,” Hemric said. “Here you are with a bunch of individuals with families at home and they don’t know what they’re doing after they finish this weekend. We had a can’t lose attitude out of every single one of our guys, and I’m so proud of that.
“We achieved the goal we set out to achieve, and that’s special. This is the stuff in sports that you can’t script and it’s hard to understand how we can overcome all of these obstacles to be successful and it’s something I’m very proud of.”
Hemric received the call from Kaulig Racing owner Matt Kaulig and President Chris Rice a few months ago. During that time, it was clear that the Chevrolet-backed team, which has an alliance with RCR, believed in Hemric. At that time, he still never won a race.
“Quite frankly, when I signed my contract with them, they were signing a guy who had not won at the Nascar level,” Hemric said. “I wasn’t called a champion yet. Now, I can go there and add to that pedigree. I look forward to building together. They for sure took a chance on me before all of this other stuff came through. I’m looking forward to getting to work with those guys and putting the work in for 2022 and beyond.”
The opportunity at Kaulig Racing is a rare one. Hemric, who has been backed by Poppy Bank, doesn’t have to bring sponsorship with him as he’ll drive the team’s flagship No. 11 Chervolet.
Unlike Hemric’s opportunity at Joe Gibbs Racing, which has a full four-car stable, there is potential to return to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing. Kaulig will field two full-time chartered entries in 2022 for the first time, with Justin Haley competing for Rookie of the Year in one car and A.J. Allmendinger running 12 to 15 races in the second car. This means there may be some opportunities for Hemric in the second entry, and to him, that’s exciting.
“You don’t know if you’re going to get that phone call from Matt or not, but I like to think it’s my job to make him want to do that,” Hemric said. “If he chooses to, then I’m here and I’m ready. Ultimately, it’s my job to do what’s asked of me.”
Hemric, now 30, is just appreciative of the opportunity ahead. More than anything, he’s ready — as his new team owner says — to go trophy hunting.
Hemric said, “Those guys believe in me, trust me and want to build around me. You can ask what’s the vision and the plan for Kaulig. As I was able to see and heard more of what that direction was, it was very enlightening to me that I should be focusing on this for my future. It’s seeing what Matt and Chris have already built there to date in a short amount of time.”
There’s just 100 days until Hemric gets his first opportunity with Kaulig, in the 2022 season opener at Daytona.
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