Daniel Hemric will return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series to drive the #8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in 21 races next season, the race team announced Thursday.
After one year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Hemric will be released from the #8 Cup Series team of Richard Childress Racing after Sunday's season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to make room for Tyler Reddick. RCR is promoting Reddick to Cup from its Xfinity Series program at season's end.
“I want to thank Dale [Earnhardt Jr.], Kelley [Earnhardt Miller, JRM co-owners] and everyone at JR Motorsports for believing in me,” Hemric said. “For a Kannapolis [N.C.] boy like me, driving for the Earnhardt family is pretty awesome. My goal here is simple—to go win races for JR Motorsports and to help their program any way that I can. I’ve raced against their cars before and I know how they’re capable of running. My focus is on finishing the Cup season out strong, but once the checkered flag flies at Homestead, we’ll set our sights on getting the #8 car to Victory Lane early and often next season.”
Hemric is on track to claim 2019 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year honors in a rookie class that also includes Ryan Preece and Matt Tifft. Hemric has two top-10 finishes this season, including a best finish of fifth at Talladega Superspeedway. Prior to moving to the Cup Series ahead of the 2019 season, Hemric raced two full seasons in the Xfinity Series for RCR. He made the championship four in both 2017 and 2018 anf finished third in the driver standings last season.He has 23 top-fives and 39 top-10 finishes in 66-career Xfinity Series races.
“Having Daniel on board with our #8 team really solidifies things for JRM in 2020,” JRM General Manager Kelley Earnhardt Miller said. “It puts the team in a healthy place with four cars running for a championship again, and we can’t wait to see how Daniel will perform next year. We have a ton of confidence in him and in the company’s direction.”
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