HEMRIC’S CONSOLATION IS $100,000 DASH 4 CASH BONUS
Daniel Hemric didn’t have a lot of time to consider winning the $100,000 NASCAR XFINITY Series Dash 4 Cash bonus Saturday.
Because for a few moments in the final laps of the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the Richard Childress Racing driver was more concerned about a potential win.
“In all honesty, in the back of my mind we haven’t put ourselves in positon to run for a win this year,” Hemric said after his series-best fifth-place finish earned him the D4C bonus. “I felt like we were doing that (today) as the stages went by and as the laps went by.
“The Dash 4 Cash is always lingering there but it’s not something that crosses your mind.”
Competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the XFINITY Series, Hemric had finished ninth at Atlanta and seventh at Phoenix before Saturday’s top five.
After crossing the line ninth Saturday in the opening stage that saw Cole Custer (Stewart-Haas Racing) and Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports) earn two of the four qualifying berths for the D4C, Hemric and crew chief Danny Stockman opted to stay out under caution for rain as the second stage was nearing completion.
Following a 98-minute red-flag period, those in front of him opted to pit, putting Hemric in the lead with just two laps remaining to complete the stage. He held on for the stage win, then pitted for adjustments under the yellow during the stage break, and those changes, he said, “really gave us a shot at the end of the race.”
“I honestly didn’t think everybody would come down in front of us, so obviously we were given a golden ticket there to go try to win some points,” he said.
Teammate Brendan Gaughan was third in the stage to earn the final qualifying berth for the bonus.
But one by one, Gaughan, Custer and Allgaier (who won the D4C bonus at Phoenix earlier this year), fell out of contention in the final stage of the race.
Gaughan crashed after contact from Darrell Wallace Jr. on Lap 244; Custer, who had run as high as third, went behind the wall on Lap 261 after contact with Brandon Jones while Allgaier was caught up in an incident with William Byron.
“When the 00 (Custer) and the 7 (Allgaier) fell back there and the 62 (Gaughan) had his problems it put us in a really good spot,” Hemric said. “At that point, it was being aware the situation I was in but obviously we were running second, third there at times, and had a shot to win the race.
“And I can promise you, if you win the race, you’ll definitely win the Dash 4 Cash and that’s what our ultimate goal was.”
Hemric closed on race leader Ryan Blaney before a late-race restart saw Erik Jones shoot from fourth place into the lead, bumping Blaney out of the way in the process on the way to the win.
“I hate we came up short of that (win) but the 20 (Jones) had an incredible run from his (speeding) penalty to come back and win,” Hemric said. “He had a ton of speed. When he and (Blaney) got into it I thought we were going to have an opportunity, or an opportunity to lose it all at the same time when we all stacked up in (Turns) 1 and 2. But luckily it worked out.”
Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler and Hemric completed the top five.
The $600,000 bonus that goes to any driver who is the highest finishing eligible Dash 4 Cash driver in all four races, and wins the fourth race outright, is off the table with Hemric’s victory.
The two remaining D4C races are scheduled for Richmond (April 29) and Dover (June 3).
By Kenny Bruce | NASCAR.com | April 22, 2017
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