Daniel Hemric Wins His First Race and the Xfinity Championship at Phoenix

AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Daniel Hemric passed defending champion Austin Cindric on the last lap of overtime to win for the first time in his career and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday night. 

Hemric had been winless in 207 NASCAR races across Cup, Xfinity and the Camping World Series before Saturday night’s race. Ten times he had finished runner-up in a race in the Xfinity Series.

The race went to overtime after a late caution – one of three cautions in the last 20 laps. Cindric led and started on the outside. Hemric started on the inside of Cindric. Hemric hung close before making his move coming to the checkered flag.

He bumped Cindric, moving Cindric up the track coming to the white flag. That kept him close to Cindric in the back and got beside Cindric. Hemric hit Cindric and that allowed him to close. Both cars made contact before Hemric’s pulled ahead to cross the finish line first.

“Unbelievable,” Hemric said after the race. “These guys right here have asked me all year, ‘How bad do you want it?’ We gave away one here in the spring. I felt like we had to give one up last week to get here. We were not going to be denied. … People doubted me. I would do it all over again for a night like this. “

Cindric was disappointed.

“If everyone in the stands enjoyed it, that’s good racing.”

The 30-year-old Hemric becomes the oldest Xfinity Series champion since Kevin Harvick in 2006.

Harrison Burton finished third. Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top five. Title contender Noah Gragson, who bounced off the wall in the final laps, finished 12th. Title contender AJ Allmendinger finished 16th after a spin late in the race.

Cindric won the first stage and was the polesitter. Hemric the second stage. The race was pretty even between the two. A.J. Allmendinger, the fourth driver in the championship quartet wasn’t a factor.

Unofficial Results: 23rd Annual NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race: November 6, 2021, Phoenix Raceway: 1. - Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 4, Daniel Hemric (P), No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota, 204, 2, 1, 5, 48, 6, 40, Running

2) 1, Austin Cindric (P), No. 22 CarShop Ford, 204, 1, 2, 5, 113, 1, 35, Running

3) 36, Harrison Burton, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota, 204, , 8, , , , 37, Running

4) 5, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 204, 9, 10, , , , 36, Running

5) 8, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 204, 10, 7, , , , 37, Running

6) 2, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota, 204, 3, 3, 2, 39, , 0, Running

7) 6, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Menards/Pelonis Toyota, 204, 6, , , , , 35, Running

8) 20, Brett Moffitt, No. 02 Destiny Homes Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 29, Running

9) 3, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 204, 4, 4, , , , 42, Running

10) 10, Sheldon Creed(i), No. 78 Global Industrial Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 0, Running

11) 13, Michael Annett, No. 1 PFJ Veterans Salute Chevrolet, 204, 8, 9, 1, 1, , 31, Running

12) 7, Noah Gragson (P), No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 204, 5, 5, 3, 3, , 25, Running

13) 11, Sam Mayer #, No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 24, Running

14) 12, AJ Allmendinger (P), No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet, 204, 7, 6, , , , 23, Running

15) 32, Dylan Lupton, No. 26 Marques General Engineering Toyota, 204, , , , , , 22, Running

16) 21, Blaine Perkins, No. 23 Raceline Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 21, Running

17) 14, Ryan Sieg, No. 38 CMRoofing.com/A-Game Ford, 204, , , , , , 20, Running

18) 22, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 17, Myatt Snider, No. 2 TaxSlayer Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 19, Brandon Brown, No. 68 TradeTheChain.com Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 27, David Starr, No. 66 Whataburger Toyota, 204, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 29, JJ Yeley, No. 07 Firman Power Equipment Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 9, Jeb Burton, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 23, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 AAN Adjusters Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 13, Running

25) 33, Sage Karam, No. 31 Montage Mountain Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 12, Running

26) 24, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 DaaBin Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 18, Kyle Sieg, No. 39 CMR Construction and Roofing/A-Game Ford, 204, , , , , , 10, Running

28) 30, Ryan Vargas #, No. 6 Swann Communications Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 35, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 204, , , , , , 8, Running

30) 26, Alex Labbe, No. 36 rousseau/Prolon Controls Chevrolet, 202, , , , , , 7, Running

31) 25, Bayley Currey(i), No. 15 KSDT CPA Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 0, Running

32) 16, Josh Williams, No. 92 Josh Williams Hospital Tour Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 5, Accident

33) 15, Jade Buford #, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 4, Accident

34) 28, Stefan Parsons, No. 99 Rich Mar Florist/Springrates Chevrolet, 123, , , , , , 3, Engine

35) 34, Joe Graf Jr., No. 17 Model Electronics Chevrolet, 97, , , , , , 2, Accident

36) 31, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 ForeverLawn Chevrolet, 57, , , , , , 1, Accident

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 35 Secs.

Race Length: 204 Laps, 204 Miles

Average Speed: 85.845 MPH

Margin of Victory: 0.030 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 18, 54, 7, 9, 19, 16, 1, 98, 11

Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 22, 54, 7, 9, 16, 11, 20, 1, 98

Comments: Daniel Hemric has won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, his first career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Daniel Hemric has won the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 66 (Unapproved adjustments), No. 07 (Backup car), No. 20 (Inspection infraction).

Failed to Qualify: (6) 4 Landon Cassill, 13 Stephen Leicht, 90 Spencer Boyd(i), 74 Ryan Ellis, 61 Timmy Hill(i), 52 Joey Gase.

Caution Flags: 10 for 61 laps;

Laps: 47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [47]);

61-65 (No. 0, 17, 47 Incident Backstretch [26]);

92-97 (Stage 2 Conclusion [44]);

100-105 (No. 17, 31 Incident Turn 1 [23]);

108-113 (No. 5, 31 Incident Turn 1 [None]);

126-134 (No. 99 Incident Frontstretch   [39]);

136-140 (No. 48 Spin Turn 2 [66]);

182-187 (No. 16 Spin Turn 2 [68]);

189-192 (No. 10, 78 Incident Turn 4 [6]);

195-202 (No. 48, 92 Incident Turn 3 [5]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 5 drivers;

J. Nemechek(i) 1-20;

A. Cindric (P) 21-47;

N. Gragson (P) 48;

D. Hemric (P) 49-66;

J. Nemechek(i) 67-85;

D. Hemric (P) 86-92;

N. Gragson (P) 93;

D. Hemric (P) 94-114;

A. Cindric (P) 115-130;

M. Annett 131;

A. Cindric (P) 132-183;

N. Gragson (P) 184;

A. Cindric (P) 185-201;

D. Hemric (P) 202;

A. Cindric (P) 203;

D. Hemric (P) 204.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Daniel Hemric, No. 18

Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Sam Mayer, No. 8