Austin McDaniel scored the Late Model championship at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2012. Photo by Sherri Stearns
Austin McDaniel advanced from top rookie in 2011 to top of the points in 2012 at Hickory Motor Speedway in Hickory, NC. McDaniel, 18, of Harrisburg, NC, won the NASCAR Late Model title at Hickory a year after being the state’s NASCAR rookie-of-the-year.
“We were lucky enough to have things go exactly like we needed,” McDaniel said. “We just wanted to finish one spot better in track points than we did in 2011.”
In his rookie season McDaniel placed second to Jesse LeFevers in the track point race. The two swapped positions in 2012.
With his single-car family-owned team, McDaniel tripled his 2011 win total of three into nine feature wins in 2012.
“It was important to have that year of experience under our belt,” McDaniel said. “It made me a better driver.”
“We focused on Hickory,” McDaniel said. “We have one car and we didn’t want to risk tearing it up and missing a chance at the Hickory championship.
“We’d like to get out to some other NASCAR tracks this year,” McDaniel said. “We’d like to get more experience at adapting to different tracks like Greenville-Pickens, Motor Mile and Kingsport.”
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Many of NASCAR’s all-time greatest drivers including Ralph Earnhardt, Junior Johnson and Ned Jarrett won Hickory championships while they were establishing their careers. The complete list is displayed at the main fan entrance to the track, and McDaniel’s name is the latest addition.
“Being on the list of Hickory champions is prestigious,” McDaniel said. “It feels good to be part of it.”
Despite racing only one night a week, McDaniel’s performance at Hickory got him to 32nd place in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series top 500 for 2012. His 22 race record included nine wins, 20 top fives and 21 top 10s.
McDaniel’s car is owned by his father, Brian and grandfathers David Traylor and James McDaniel. The crew chief is Jonathan Morrison while Chris Harrington is the engine specialist and tire specialist Terri Ellis. Also supporting the effort are the driver’s mother Stephanie, sister Madison and girlfriend Ashlyn. Brian McDaniel is general manager at Honda Cars of Hickory, one of their team sponsors. Hendrickcars.com and Autotrader.com also support the effort.
McDaniel is studying mechanical engineering at Rowan-Cabarrus (NC) Community College.
McDaniel was honored in December for his track championship during the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards event at the Charlotte Convention Center’s Crown Ballroom at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
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