Perfect Opportunity to Advance … The wide-open spaces at Talladega Superspeedway is a wide-open opportunity for Daniel Hemric to secure his first-career Championship 4 appearance in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS). The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST has a narrow two-point margin on the provisional cut line and the only probable guaranteed ticket to the championship finale is through the victory lane gate at Talladega. Hemric has navigated the chaotic ‘Dega draft 16 times in his career between all three of NASCAR’s national series and is zeroed in on making his third NCTS appearance at the world’s largest superspeedway the most valuable.

Big Results at Big Tracks … Hemric’s previous experience on the 2.66-mile high banks has netted big results in both the NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS). While his previous two NCTS appearances resulted in a best finish of 11th in 2016, Hemric recorded two top-five results in NXS competition and a best finish of ninth in last spring’s NCS event. In this season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Hemric delivered a stout showing in his debut driving the No. 19 for MHR with a seventh-place finish after leading seven laps.

Season to Date … Friday’s tussle at Talladega marks the second of three races in the “Round of 8” as Hemric sits third in the NCTS playoff standings. He and teammate Tyler Ankrum are currently above the provisional cut line as MHR is the only organization to advance two trucks to the second round of the playoffs. Hemric has a two-point cushion and has amassed 10 top-five results and 15 top-10 finishes through 22 races with an average finish of 9.0, the second-best among full-time NCTS drivers.

Tune In … Coverage from Talladega begins Friday at 12:30 p.m. ET with pole qualifying on FOX Sports 2. The green flag drops shortly thereafter on FOX network at 3:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmr_nascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.

Daniel Hemric Quote:

On racing at Talladega:

“You just have to expect the unexpected at Talladega and be ready for anything. Everyone expects chaos, but you never know when it might happen, or what the dynamic of the race will be. You definitely have to keep yourself in contention throughout the day to just get to the last 10-15 laps to be able to be in position. Hopefully we can do that with our Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet. Points will be at a premium, and I expect things to ramp up at the stage ends since so many guys are fighting for points. If we’re able to keep our nose clean, execute clean pit stops and get ourselves to the end, I think we have the speed and experience within our group to have a great shot at winning and advancing ourselves to Phoenix.” 

MHR PR