Daniel Hemric started a brand new chapter in his NASCAR profession firstly of the 2025 season, experiencing a collection of firsts. Coming into his first full-time marketing campaign within the Craftsman Truck Sequence since 2016, Hemric is now driving the No. 19 Chevrolet for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
With any change to a brand new workforce comes the preseason pleasantries of studying a brand new store, personnel and crew chief who will likely be atop the pit field calling the pictures.
Beforehand, the No. 19 Chevrolet was piloted by Christian Eckes with crew chief Charles Denike. However with one of many extra intensive Foolish Seasons within the NASCAR storage in latest reminiscence, Eckes left for the Xfinity Sequence and Kaulig Racing, and Denike was known as as much as the Cup Sequence, at 23XI Racing.
RELATED:
With these new adjustments within the race store, Hemric had the chance to mould and form the brand new guard in a manner that made the workforce really feel like his personal — a job that the 34-year-old approached head-on.
“By means of all of our hiring course of, we tried to push it like, ‘Hey, like, this isn’t the 19 group of previous,’ proper?” Hemric advised NASCAR.com. “With the chance of hiring folks comes a chance to create our personal tradition and our personal id throughout our time collectively right here as a 19 group and with that, you already know, comes lots of freedom and stuff that you simply need to discover and do new issues collectively and expertise new issues collectively.”
As Hemric navigates his personal changes to a brand new workforce and schedule, the 2021 Xfinity Sequence champion finds himself accompanied by three younger, formidable drivers keen to achieve perception and information that comes from a profession at NASCAR’s highest ranges.
Tyler Ankrum, who drives the No. 18 Chevrolet, is getting into his sixth full-time season within the Truck Sequence and his second season with MHR. Jack Wooden will proceed his part-time position within the No. 91 truck from final yr. Becoming a member of the MHR lineup in 2025 was Connor Mosack, who drives the No. 81 Chevrolet. Mosack shares part-time expertise in each the Truck and the Xfinity Sequence.
“Connor and I’ve educated collectively by way of the Chevrolet coaching program with Josh Smart and Scott Pace,” Hemric stated. “We’ve been collectively in it for a few years now. So there may be already a relationship constructed there. Nevertheless it’s been enjoyable to get to know Jack. I’ve been actually impressed with Jack Wooden on the take a look at at Rockingham, and sort of the best way he’s utilized himself has been enjoyable to observe, and identical with Tyler. Tyler is now sort of the veteran of the Tuck Sequence now, as a few years as he’s ran in it, however he requested, he requested lots of actually detailed questions.”
Hemric shortly acknowledged that, though he’s joyful to share the information he gained from racing within the Cup Sequence and his six years within the Xfinity Sequence, the Truck Sequence surroundings has modified considerably since he final competed full-time practically a decade in the past.
“I’ve had a few of them, like, you already know, speak about my prior experiences at completely different ranges and sort of what that appears like,” Hemric stated. “And, you already know, issues to concentrate on, and issues that you simply assume are an enormous deal that sort of discover out down the highway weren’t such an enormous deal. So been enjoyable having this dialog with these guys. And I’m positive we’ve got a lot extra of them right here within the weeks forward. However undoubtedly, yeah, for me, simply coming right into a race workforce again sort of reacclimating to the Truck Sequence, I’ve requested nearly as many questions as they’ve, proper? I imply, they’ve been doing this for no less than, you already know, particularly, Tyler and Jack, they ran lots of Truck races over the past couple of years. And Connor, not fairly as a lot, however he has made some begins final yr and the yr earlier than. So, yeah, it’s been enjoyable to all of us, sort of develop and be taught.”
Because the Truck Sequence strikes previous the 2 drafting-style race tracks and into the meat of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Sequence schedule, the Kannapolis, North Carolina native is generally excited to strategy maybe essentially the most various occasion schedule because the collection’ inception some 30 years in the past in 1995, with a “wholesome” mixture of racing in all disciplines.
Such a healthy dose of that blend will start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday within the Ecosave 200 (9 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Community Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
MORE: |
“I feel the variety inside the Truck Sequence now could be getting nearer to what we see within the different two types of NASCAR, which I feel is wholesome,” Hemric stated. “In addition to doing it with some standalone occasions like your Lime Rock, I consider, actually, that that’s a that’s a very good factor, not solely being that a part of the nation, however only for our sport and our collection to go and have its personal weekend, its personal id up there. And that’s a very, actually cool.
“I’ve been clearly part of that with the standalone stuff on the Xfinity Sequence aspect. Years previous, and I don’t know, once you had these, these couple occasions a yr like that, it sort of makes you’re feeling, no less than from experiencing all three ranges, proper? It makes you’re feeling such as you’re within the Cup Sequence within the sense of the massive present there that weekend. And anytime that’s the case, there’s extra eyes and and extra folks tuned in, and it’s just a bit completely different vibe, which is nice.”
