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Determined Daniel: Hemric Shakes Off Previous Five Flags Disappointments to Sit Atop Blizzard Points Standings

By Chuck Corder

Daniel Hemric wasn’t exactly sure what the fuss was all about.

In his brief trips around one of the country’s legendary short tracks before this year, Hemric had been chewed up and spit out at Five Flags Speedway.

The track had worked him over like a Floyd Mayweather opponent, bruised and loopy, offering a clinic in how to deconstruct a driver.

That was then — “then� being as recently as last Snowball Derby when a blown tire and a vicious crash sent him to a hospital with neck injuries and relegated him to 29th. He also finished a miserable 34th in the Snowflake 100 last year.

When the 22-year-old Hemric arrives Friday at Pensacola’s high banks for the Buddy’s Home Furnishings Blizzard Series season finale, not only will he be sizing up his second Blizzard win of the season, but also a previously unthinkable track championship.

He leads John Hunter Nemechek by a comfortable, yet not insurmountable 23 points when the gates open at 5 p.m. Friday for the Buddy’s Home Furnishings 125.

“It’s not a huge lead, but it’s a margin we’ve been able to build on all season,� said Hemric, whose lowest finish in three 125 lappers this year at Five Flags has been fourth. “Hopefully we can do the same thing we’ve done all year long. Put forth a strong qualifying effort, string together good runs and be there at the end.�
The Super Stocks will also decide their track king while the Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman and Butler U-Pull-It Bombers try to spice things up before their Night of Champions on Sept. 28, a highly-anticipated Saturday night of racing.

Admission is as follows: $15 adults; $12 seniors, military, students; $5 children 6-11; free kids under 6.

Running a full schedule instead of a few unpleasant dalliances at the famed half-mile, asphalt oval has paid off for Hemric, a former Legends Million winner at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in which he took home an unprecedented $250,000.

“It’s one of those deals that when you run once a year at Five Flags, you don’t learn habits of the track or of the other drivers,� said the Kannapolis, N.C., native, who followed up his first career win June 21 at Five Flags with a victory in Mobile the next night for the rare Gulf Coast weekend sweep.

“There was definitely a learning curve for me. But success early on was huge for us. Five Flags is a place I’m able to look forward to coming to now.�

Another trip to Victory Lane on Friday could vault Hemric closer to Bubba Pollard for the Southern Super Series points lead. Pollard currently leads Hemric by less than 40 points.

In its inaugural year, the 16-race SSS schedule has been a roaring success, entertaining fans at the south’s most iconic short tracks.

When rumblings of the proposed SLM touring circuit began to circulate last year, Hemric didn’t have a full-time ride.

Shortly after the formal SSS announcement, Jake Carswell dialed up Hemric. The owner of the Jody Ridley-inspired No. 98 team knew what to expect with Hemric, who drove a few races for Carswell in prior years.

“I want to try and take the championship,� Carswell told Hemric.

And when Hemric fired back, “I’m all in and I’ll give you all I have,� Carswell had his man.

The family-owned team, based out of tiny Woodstock, Ga., could’ve never envisioned the historic ride Hemric would take them on.

“We had never won at Five Flags before,� said Carswell, who bought all of Ridley’s equipment once the short-track legend, a Carswell family friend, retired years ago.

“It was always a place we looked at fondly, but we never had much success at for so many years. To run with those guys where they’ve been so dominant, it was huge for us.�

For Hemric, personally, the breakthrough was a long, overdue affirmation. Proof that he not only belonged among the talented corps of late model drivers, but at a track that had mostly been a conundrum for him.

His string of body blows behind him, Hemric had finally counterpunched Five Flags and it was his arm that was raised when the bell sounded.

“It was one of the biggest wins of my career,� he said. “To beat those guys on their home turf from where we came from? It was a key moment. It’s something a lot of teams dream about.

“Nobody does that. Winning down there, at Five Flags, you’ve done something.�
Clearly, Daniel Hemric now understands what the fuss is all about.

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