LONG POND, Pa. - With a fifth-place finish in Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, Daniel Hemric walked away with his seventh top-five finish in 14 races for the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team.
But Hemric, the 2021 Xfinity Series champion, still wasn't completely satisfied after Friday's MillerTech Batteries 200 at Pocono Raceway.
Hemric lamented a 19th-place effort in qualifying, which stuck him midpack to being the 80-lap contest, but crew chief Josh Graham worked to give Hemric the right balance despite early damage from contact, allowing the duo to score its seventh top 10 in the past eight races. Their one hiccup came in the series' most recent outing on June 7 at Michigan, where a late crash relegated the No. 19 Chevrolet to a season-worst 27th-place finish.
"In all fairness, we haven't really been in a situation where we had to bounce back, and we proved we could do that coming off of Michigan," Hemric said Friday. "Disappointed we haven't been able to tally any stage points the last two weeks, but when we have a fifth-place result, it's hard to be upset."
The recent results for Hemric have been notably strong, tallying an average finish of 7.9 across the past eight weeks. But with a Martinsville Speedway win in hand and a trip to the Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs virtually assured, Hemric hesitates to grow too content, eagerly working with his team to find speed earlier in contests that allow them to score stage points and seriously contend for victories.
"We've just gotta have more potential," Hemric said. "I've got to bring either a better mindset or something to gain some potential and need a little help on their end as well. The good thing is this team does pull the rope the same direction. Even though it's been a character-building and patience-building season for us, thankfully, we are able to put the races together at the end when it matters.
"I can woulda-shoulda-coulda the stage points - I think it's been three or four weekends where we haven't tallied any and we've still made a decent result. So that's where we've got to (find) more speed, more balance the first run or two (that) gives us that ability. And you're going to have to have that once the postseason starts."
There is an optimism laced within Hemric's disappointment. Although Hemric and Co. have "very quickly realized that we still are not where we need to be on these high-throttle-carry, big-downforce-style race tracks," the group's in-race adjustments have proved effective, propelling the team to strong results.
"As soon as Josh Graham gets to work on it in the race, we hit the balance, and we go forward," Hemric said. "Then we have good restarts and it looks like and feels like a different, race-capable truck with a lot more potential. So I'm proud of these guys. We had a bit of a new body build. Don't know if that helped us or hurt us; it's hard to evaluate when I did as poorly of a job in qualifying as I did, but yeah, it's good to get out of here with another solid day."
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