Kaulig Racing has confirmed that Daniel Hemric will drive the No. 31 Chevy next season to replace Justin Haley as he moves to Rick Ware Racing. Kaulig hinted that their decision was going to be a little out of the box, and perhaps they are right. Hemric has given the NASCAR Cup Series a shot before.
The 32-year-old driver returns to the Cup Series after four years away from the top of the sport. His run in the RCR No. 8 car in 2019 was not very successful. However, Hemric is an Xfinity Series champion and is a steady hand.
A lot of people thought that Kaulig Racing was going to go outside of the organization and get really young talent to replace Haley. They went the other way, stayed in the house, and went with experience. And Hemric isn’t old by any means.
Perhaps in the Next Gen car, we could see a different Daniel Hemric than we saw in 2019.
Kaulig Racing has once again promoted a talent that they are familiar with. AJ Allmendinger was given the 16 car for this season after proving himself in the Xfinity Series. While he didn’t have the results he might have wanted in the regular season, he almost made his way to the playoffs on points.
At Bristol, Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice appeared with Daniel Hemric to make the official announcement. There is a lot of talk about charters and which driver is going to race where next season. Right now it looks like Kaulig is committed to running their Cup Series program, and perhaps bringing the young talent up through the Xfinity Series.
Daniel Hemric moving up with Kaulig Racing
As Kaulig Racing and Daniel Hemric look forward to advancing in the owners championship in the Xfinity Series, this announcement solidifies one-half of their Cup Series future. They apparently have the 16 figured out as well. That might mean Allmendinger returns or perhaps they went out and got another driver to take over.
Perhaps we see a mix of drivers in that other car for Kaulig? There really isn’t a lot that you can definitively say when it comes to the NASCAR silly season. There are so many rumors about teams signing young drivers, resigning drivers, and maybe even a chance we see a driver leased to another team as organizations figure out the charter situation.
Right now, what we do know is Haley is leaving and Hemric is stepping back up to the Cup Series. He’s been solid in qualifying, he gets his car into the top-5 and top-10 more times than he’s given credit for when people talk about his failures and successes. What he’s missing is wins.
Even if Daniel Hemric flames out of the Xfinity Series Playoffs, he’s got a Cup ride waiting for him in 2024. That has to give him confidence.
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