Daniel Hemric joins Richard Childress Racing Xfinity team for 2017
By Ted Fleming
The Kannapolis, NC hot shoe lands multi-year deal with RCR leading to speculation that Ty Dillon could be moving up to Sprint Cup.
Richard Childress Racing announced today that Daniel Hemric has signed a multi-year contract to drive in the team’s Xfinity Series program beginning in the 2017 season. His car number, crew chief and sponsor will be announced at a later date.
“Daniel has proven his talent with his numerous wins and championships throughout the years,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR, in a release. “He has had an impressive start to his NASCAR career in the Camping World Truck Series, and we’re thrilled to add his incredible talent to our lineup for 2017. I look forward to watching him contend for championships under the RCR banner.”
Hemric is currently second in the truck series championship point standings and on the Chase grid. On the strength of eight top-four and 13 top-10 finishes, he holds an average starting position of 10.9, coupled with an average finishing position of 7.9 through the first 16 races.
“This is such a great opportunity for me,” said Hemric. “There aren’t words that can describe what racing for RCR means to me, especially considering everything they have done as an organization for our sport. I’m excited to now officially be a small part of the company and am looking forward to working with everyone in Welcome, North Carolina. We will hit the ground running in February at Daytona. With all the talent and experience RCR has in the XFINITY Series, I’m confident we can compete for wins and contend for the championship.”
Next: Xfinity Series Race No. 26 at Chicagoland: Last chance to make Chase
The 25-year old hot shoe is projected to be a future star in the Sprint Cup Series after his apprenticeship in Xfinity. He has a history of championships in various Legend Car and Late Model series. He was crowned the track champion at Concord Speedway, recorded back-to-back Legend Car Pro championships (2008 and 2009), two Summer Shootout Series championships (2009 and 2012), Champion Racing Association JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour championship (2012) and the Southern Super Series championship (2013).
Along with Hemric’s impressive list of championships, he also claimed the victory in the inaugural Legends Million at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2010. Hemric won the largest one-of-a-kind grassroots event in racing history after taking the lead with 11 laps to go in the 100-lap A-Feature.
With Hemric’s elevation to Xfinity, there is speculation that Ty Dillion will join his brother Austin in Sprint Cup and while Richard Childress deflected any questions about it, he did say there are future announcements coming.