by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Daniel Hemric finished last in Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel Race 1 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #31 Cirkul Chevrolet crashed after 49 of 60 laps.

On the heels of his shocking XFINITY Series Championship in 2021 – securing his first career win in his final start for Joe Gibbs Racing – Hemric entered 2022 with high hopes and a new ride with the notorious “trophy hunters” at Kaulig Racing. The two seasons since have each fallen short of expectations – top-ten finishes in the point standings, but no wins and far fewer Top Fives. Still, with longtime Kaulig driver Justin Haley making the surprising move to Rick Ware Racing, the opportunity came for Hemric to return to full-time Cup racing for the first time since 2019. Hemric would pilot Haley’s former ride, the #31, teamed with the “all-star” #16 entry featuring A.J. Allmendinger, Chicago winner Shane Van Gisbergen, and Clash entrant Josh Williams. Both Hemric and Williams failed to qualify for this year’s Clash at the Coliseum.

In Daytona 500 qualifying, Hemric earned the 24th-fastest lap with a speed of 179.522mph (50.133 seconds), securing him 13th on the grid for Duel Race #1.

Rolling off in the 21st and final starting spot was J.J. Yeley, who reunited with Johnathan Cohen’s NY Racing Team for the first time since 2018. The team’s freshly-redecorated hauler – formerly belonging to Premium Motorsports – originally carried a rendering of the team’s #44 100 Coconut Water Chevrolet with Greg Biffle’s name. But when Biffle said he wouldn’t be entering the race, citing “unfulfilled contract obligations” from the team’s most recent entries in 2022, the team reached out to Yeley. In qualifying, Yeley turned in the slowest completed lap by a half-second.

With no drivers sent to the rear for pre-race penalties, Yeley crossed the line by himself on the outside line, 1.874 seconds behind the leader. He dropped to the inside line and, determined to not lose the draft, followed Carson Hocevar in the #77 Gainbridge Chevrolet. Yeley remained last at the end of the lap, now 1.346 seconds back of the leader and 0.387 behind new 20th-place runner Tyler Reddick in the #45 Nasty Beast Toyota. Yeley continued to close the deficit as the two-by-two pack tightened further, bringing Yeley 1.053 seconds back of the lead on Lap 3. By then, he was side-by-side with Reddick, the pair just 0.067 second apart. Yeley remained side-by-side with the car in 20th through Lap 6, when he inched ahead of Hocevar, putting the #77 in 21st by just 0.031 second.

On Lap 8, the spot fell to Anthony Alfredo, whose #62 Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet was the first “open” entry to lock himself in on speed. Alfredo dropped 1.207 seconds back of the lead, and was now 0.136 second back of Yeley. But Alfredo’s car, too, pulled up quickly in traffic, keeping the deficit under three-tenths of a second through Lap 10. It wasn’t until Lap 11 that Alfredo began to lose touch with the pack, falling 0.661 behind Hemric, who now fell to 20th. By Lap 13, Alfredo dropped 1.227 seconds back of 20th place. The Beard Motorsports team told Hemric to run the high lane when he was lapped and to make sure not to run over any debris. Alfredo continued to lose ground, dropping 1.535 seconds back of 20th on Lap 17, 2.262 on Lap 19, 5.426 on Lap 22, 13.092 on Lap 26, and 20.444 on Lap 30.

Alfredo’s team then prepared to make their pit stop, which they planned to make on Lap 33. They told the driver to be aggressive with his pit road speed, but also be mindful that his stall was the fourth from pit road entrance. Alfredo did as he was told, completing a fuel-only stop, only to be caught speeding in Sections 5-12. With no other drafting help, the now-lapped Alfredo lost another lap after serving his penalty, pulling to the apron on the backstretch on Lap 36 as the field rushed by to his outside. Moments later, the leaders nearly wrecked during a sequence of green-flag stops. Contact from Corey LaJoie’s #7 Chili’s Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet knocked a slowing Austin Dillon into Todd Gilliland, causing right-side damage to both Dillon’s #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet and Gilliland’s #38 gener8tor Ford. Both made pit stops and continued on the lead lap. Meanwhile, Alfredo was told to make a second stop for fuel as the crew feared he’d run out. This stop was made on Lap 49, nearly putting the #62 a third lap down.

The next time by, another stack-up triggered by LaJoie ended the last-place battle. This time, the #7 broke loose in the third lane of a four-wide battle through Turns 3 and 4 – directly in the path of a closing Hemric. Hemric slowed in front of a closing Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., whose #47 Boost by Kroger / Cottonelle Chevrolet swiped his rear bumper. Hemric broke loose and hooked right, slamming into the wall with the right-front. Stenhouse then cut left, directly across the nose of Austin Dillon and sending both onto the apron along with Jimmie Johnson in the #84 Carvana Toyota. Hemric’s car came to rest in the grass, and the driver climbed from the car without serious injury. The #31 was towed on Lap 52, and took last from Alfredo on Lap 53. Hemric will start 37th in Sunday’s 500.

Stenhouse, too, was eliminated in the accident when his “Crash Clock” expired on pit road. Alfredo got all but one of his laps back en route to a 19th-place finish while Dillon and Gilliland rounded out the lead-lap cars in 18th and 17th, completing the Bottom Five. Johnson recovered from the spin to finish 12th, sticking to the inside lane through the final corners. This was just enough to secure Johnson a spot in the Daytona 500 and bump out Yeley. Yeley had managed to stay in the lead draft for nearly the entire race and was holding a spot in the outside lane. A move to the high side of a slowing Ross Chastain in the #1 Busch Light Chevrolet spelled the difference.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This was the first last-place finish for Hemric in the Duels.

*This marked the fourth time the #31 finished last in the Duel races. The last time it happened was in Race 2 on February 18, 2016, when Ryan Newman’s #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet lost the engine after 31 laps.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

21) #31-Daniel Hemric / 49 laps / crash

20) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. / 51 laps / dvp / led 15 laps

19) #62-Anthony Alfredo / 59 laps / running

18) #3-Austin Dillon / 60 laps / running

17) #38-Todd Gilliland / 60 laps / running / led 1 lap