NASCAR: 4 drivers who could sign with Richard Childress Racing for 2019
By Asher Fair
Daniel Hemric
After spending two seasons as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Truck Series, one in 2015 driving for NTS Motorsports and one in 2016 for Brad Keselowski Racing, Daniel Hemric began driving for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in the 2017 season.
Hemric has driven full-time for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series in each of the last two seasons. While he did not win a race in the Truck Series and he has not yet won a race in the Xfinity Series, he has consistently been one of the best drivers in both series.
Hemric finished in seventh and sixth place in the Truck Series championship standings in the 2015 and 2016 season, respectively, and he finished in fourth in the Xfinity Series standings last season. He currently sits in fourth in this season’s Xfinity Series standings with 12 top five finishes, 16 top 10 finishes, two pole positions and an average finish of 9.2 through the season’s first 25 races.
If Richard Childress Racing end up not re-signing Newman, Hemric would certainly be one of the top candidates if not the top candidate to replace him behind the wheel of the #31 Chevrolet next season.
In fact, the 27-year-old Kannapolis, North Carolina native made his Cup Series debut driving the #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the April race at Richmond Raceway, and he is set to drive that car for the team once again in this month’s round of 16 playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the roval track. He is clearly a driver who the team believe can compete at the sport’s highest level.
But if Richard Childress Racing do not sign Hemric for the 2019 season, which other drivers are in the running for them to sign?