Hemric Turns All Night Drive Into JEGS/CRA Victory

Daniel Hemric takes a flip in victory lane after scoring his first JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour victory at Plymouth Speedway Sunday. Photo courtesy CRA

Kannapolis, North Carolina stand out, Daniel Hemric made the overnight trip from Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, North Carolina where he was competing in a NASCAR Whelen Southern Modifieds Tour event and didn’t arrive at Plymouth Speedway in Plymouth, IN until Sunday morning, having never seen the vulnerable facility.

It didn’t matter to the 21-year-old as he retook the lead from defending JEGS/CRA Tour Champion, 15-year-old Erik Jones on lap 60 with a daring three-wide pass of Jones and Boyne Machine Fast Qualifier, Boris Jurkovic, and then held off a furious charge from Jones to win his first career race in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by GM Performance Parts Eric Saunders I Can I Will 100 Presented by JEGS.com

“Boris (Jurkovic) and Erik (Jones) got side-by-side and made contact,” Hemric explained as he relived the bold three-wide pass. “We were just in the right place at the right time.

“This is so awesome. We drove all night to get here and I had never even seen this place before this morning, but (Car Owner) Scott Neal did an awesome job preparing this car. He’s the heart and soul of this deal, him and Richard Clark. This was just an awesome team effort overall.”

Neal climbed behind the wheel of Hemric #54 McGunegill Engine Performance Chevrolet the day before on Practice Day to shake the car down and was recorded within the top 10 throughout the afternoon.

“Scott told me he was very fast in the car, and I thought, ‘Maybe you need to get back in it.'” Hemric laughed. “Maybe he was a little better than I was. But he had faith in me, and I had faith in him and it all worked out.”

After Jurkovic won the Fast Qualifier Award, he then drew a six for an inversion, placing Hemric and Jones on the front row for the 2012 Season Opener for the second year tour. Hemric would beat Jones to the first corner to pace the early laps before developing an ignition issue just a few laps into the race. Jones took advantage on lap eight and would take over the top spot.

“I didn’t know if it would make it or not,” Henric said.  “We got those lucky cautions throughout the race to cool everything down and eventually it went away.”

The most serious of the nine cautions occurred on lap seven when 2011 TBRA Series Champion, 18-year-old Ali Kern slammed the turns 1-2 wall forcing officials to throw the red flag and bringing the field to a stop on the front stretch. She was ok, but very disappointed as her car was completely destroyed.

It would be the next restart and a lap later when Jones would pass Hemric for the lead on hold off Hemric and later Jurkovic throughout the middle stages of the race and through a series of cautions. Then after another restart on lap 59, Jurkovic got around Hemric and immediately went after Jones for the lead as the Joliet, Illinois veteran pulled up side-by-side with the reigning series champion. After contact between the two, Hemric made it three-wide on the inside and emerged as the new leader on lap 60 bringing Jones, who recovered from the collision with Jurkovic, with him.

For the rest of the event, Jones threw everything he had in his arsenal at Hemric in an effort to reclaim the lead he took from him in the early stages. But in the end, Jones in his #4 Paragon Corvette Reproductions Chevrolet couldn’t get around the eventual winner and settled for the runner-up spot.

“We tried everything we could to get back by Daniel, but we just didn’t have anything left,” Explained the Byron, Michigan teenager who will miss some JEGS/CRA races this season due to his 10-race commitment with Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards. “I just couldn’t get going on the top on restarts like I needed to and we ended up coming in second. It was a good day for us though and we’ll head to Winchester in a couple of weeks.”

Jones finished second ahead of new Howie Lettow Memorial Rookie of the Year Presented by Howe Racing Enterprises Points Leader, 14-year-old Anderson Bowen who surprised many on lookers by qualifying an impressive fourth quick out of the 32 teams on the grounds. From there, the Suwanee, Georgia teenager ran with the leaders throughout the day and in the end brought his #29 One Harvest Food Ministries Chevrolet home on the podium in third in his JEGS/CRA debut.

“I can’t thank everyone enough for working so hard and giving me a great racecar. I didn’t want to push things and let them guys in front of me battle. I was just hoping to turn some laps, gain experience and not wreck the car,” The Peach State teenager remarked. “We’re very happy to come out of here with the Rookie points lead and I hope we can continue our good start at Winchester. I hear that’s a bad fast track and I can’t wait to get there.”

Josh Nelms finished fourth ahead of Brent Downey, who rebounded from a lap 59 incident and worked his way back into fifth place at the end. Jeremy Lepak finished sixth ahead of 15-year-old Rookie Cole Williams who started 23rd after winning the Last Chance Race and emerged seventh as Eddie Hoffman, who needed a provisional to get into the show, started 21st and would finish eighth while Chris Koslek and 16-year-old rookie, Taylor Ferns, who started 22nd, would complete the top 10.

The second race for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by GM Performance Parts will be held on Sunday, May 6, at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, IN.

For more info, visit craracing.net.

JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour
Plymouth Speedway – Plymouth, IN
Eric Saunders I Can I Will 100 – April 22, 2012