NASCAR: 5 replacement candidates for Jimmie Johnson in 2021
By Asher Fair
Daniel Hemric
After spending two seasons competing for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Daniel Hemric was promoted to the Cup Series team ahead of the 2019 season. He did not win an Xfinity Series race in the 2017 season or the 2018 season, but he advanced to the Championship 4 in both years.
However, after just one season driving the #8 Chevrolet in the Cup Series, he is set to be replaced by Tyler Reddick, who made the move from JR Motorsports to Richard Childress Racing ahead of the 2019 Xfinity Series season and won two championships in his two seasons competing in the series.
Hemric won the Rookie of the Year Award over JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ryan Preece and Front Row Motorsports’ Matt Tifft, but it is hard to criticize Richard Childress Racing for promoting Reddick given what he accomplished in the Xfinity Series.
On that same note, it is hard to say that Hemric deserved to be axed simply because he isn’t as good as Reddick.
Hemric had been rumored to land with Cup Series team Front Row Motorsports with two of their three drivers not set to return to the team next year, but instead he is set to return to the Xfinity Series as a part-time driver for JR Motorsports.
The 28-year-old Kannapolis, North Carolina native is set to compete in 21 races on the 33-race 2020 schedule. Having never actually won a race across any of NASCAR’s three national series despite having success in all three, driving for the Xfinity Series team co-owned by Rick Hendrick is the perfect opportunity for him to prove he deserves a second chance at the Cup level.
As of now, Alex Bowman is set to be Hendrick Motorsports’ oldest driver entering the 2021 season; he is slated to be 27 years old. In the team’s 36-year history in the Cup Series, their oldest driver has never been younger than 33 years old. Hemric would be 30 and have plenty of experience, more than five and a half seasons worth, in NASCAR’s three national series.