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The Tear-Jerking Reason That Motivated Daniel Hemric Despite the Top-5 Race Finish Clause

Published 11/07/2021, 6:55 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Daniel Hemric has done it! He has finally got the monkey off his back and seized his maiden Xfinity Series win. He has come a long way from being a driver who was still hunting for his first win in his career. And in the process, he has become the first driver to win his first career race and win a title in the same race.

Speaking after the race, he said, “I’ll tell you from a perspective. When it’s you and your wife, it’s one thing and you figure it out. Then when you bring another person, like our little girl, it’s a different perspective. When you bet on yourself and the livelihood of your family, your daughter eating, you put food on the table. That changes it.”

How did Daniel Hemric win the race and the title?

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On an interesting note, Hemric had an interesting clause in his contract. Apparently, he would get paid for every Top 5 finish in the Xfinity Series. To be perfectly honest, it does explain why he has racked up an astounding 14 Top 5 finishes, including that win. Barring a handful of disappointing results, the lowest he ever finished was 15th at Kansas.

via Getty

Admittedly, many thought that Austin Cindric would be prepared to take a second consecutive Xfinity Series title. However, there were a fair number of cautions, and that caught him out. All this was in spite of him leading a race-high tally of 119 laps. As it turned out, it allowed Hemric to gain some ground and eventually challenge Cindric for the race lead.

When the race went into overtime, the duo was wheel-to-wheel in the two-lap sprint to the finish. In the end, Hemric defeated Austin Cindric, while Noah Gragson and AJ Allmendinger finished 12th and 14th, respectively. Now, the newly crowned champion will be moving to the Kaulig Racing Xfinity team for the 2022 season. Meanwhile, Cindric is moving up to the Cup Series with Team Penske.

“Opportunity of a Lifetime” – Daniel Hemric Opens Up After Securing Joe Gibbs Racing Ride In NASCAR Xfinity Series

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Motorsports author for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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