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#19: Daniel Hemric, McAnally Hilgemann Racing, Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado wins Martinsville
(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Tracking the Trucks: Daniel Hemric Steals 2nd NASCAR Victory in 324th Start

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In a Nutshell

Martinsville Speedway marked the 324th start for Daniel Hemric in NASCAR history, and just his 55th in the Craftsman Truck Series. Until Friday night (March 28), he had won just one NASCAR national series race — the 2021 Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway, which earned him the title.

That race was dominated by Austin Cindric, and Hemric went and took the race from him on the final restart. Similarly, at Martinsville on Friday night, Hemric stole his first career Truck Series win and his second national series victory, taking the win from McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate Tyler Ankrum after the final restart.

With the win, Hemric pockets an additional $50,000, as Martinsville was the first race of the three-race “Triple Truck Challenge” stretch. If he wins either of the next two races, he earns an additional $150,000. If he wins all three, he takes home $500,000.

Oh, and he also gets himself a grandfather clock as well.

Hemric led just four laps — the final four of the night. The win comes 4,172 days (nearly 11 years to the day) after his Truck Series debut, way back on April 6, 2013 … at Martinsville.

Hemric continues the short track dominance that Christian Eckes had last season in the same ride; Eckes won three of his four races in 2024 on short tracks.

See also
Daniel Hemric Wins 1st Career Truck Race in Martinsville

The Top Truckers at Martinsville Speedway

Winner: Daniel Hemric
Polesitter, Stage 1 and 2 Winner, Most Laps Led (149 Of 200 laps), Fastest Lap (93.428 mph): Corey Heim
Biggest Mover: Tyler Ankrum (started 24th, finished second)
Rookie of the Race: Andres Perez

The Winning Move

Hemric had no business winning this race. That’s not an attack on the driver of the No. 19, that’s me saying that he was by no means the truck to beat. That driver was once again Heim, who led a race-high 149 laps from the pole and swept both stages while also taking home the bonus point for the fastest lap.

However, it all fell apart on lap 166 for Heim when Kaden Honeycutt cut the No. 11’s left-rear tire while challenging for the lead and sent Heim spinning in turn 1.

Honeycutt then assumed the lead, which he held until lap 186 when he got his own karma via Ty Majeski, who spun both Honeycutt and himself while challenging the No. 45 for the lead.

That allowed Ankrum to take the lead for the next 10 laps, but it was clear that Hemric had the faster truck of the two MHR teammates. Hemric was able to work over the No. 18 for several laps before taking the lead for good on lap 196.

And guess what? For the first time since 2016, we got to see the driver of the No. 19 do a backflip upon winning the race. Sure, it wasn’t Carl Edwards in a Cup Series race, but it was still nostalgic to see nevertheless.

Championship Rundown

It took five races, but Heim is no longer the lone Truck Series driver locked into the playoffs via a victory. Hemric now joins him as the only two truck regulars to win a race this season. As the point standings begin to take shape, it’s Heim with a 20-point lead over Majeski for the regular season championship, while Ben Rhodes currently sits on the playoff cut line by just one point over Honeycutt.

Rookie Report

The 2024 ARCA Menards Series champion was showing some muscle!

Andres Perez earned a career-best seventh-place finish — the only rookie in the top 10. That effort was enough to award him his first Rookie of the Race honors in 2025.

No. 02 — Nathan Byrd (28th)
No. 2 — Cody Dennison (30th)
No. 5 — Toni Breidinger* (24th)
No. 7 — Corey Day (32nd)
No. 17 — Gio Ruggiero* (12th)
No. 22 — AJ Waller (31st — relieved by Josh Reaume due to illness)
No. 26 — Dawson Sutton* (16th)
No. 33 — Frankie Muniz* (33rd)
No. 44 — Matt Gould (23rd)
No. 66 — Luke Baldwin (22nd)
No. 67 — Ryan Roulette (35th)
No. 77 — Andres Perez* (seventh)
No. 81 — Connor Mosack* (25th)
No. 84 — Patrick Staropoli (20th)

*Denotes Rookie of the Year contender

One Big Takeaway From This Race

This race did not treat many of the rookies well. Perez was the only rookie to finish in the top 10. Only three other drivers finished in the top 20, though shouts out to one of them, Patrick Staropoli, who started dead last and worked his way up to 20th in his second career Truck Series start.

The other 10 rookies listed above finished outside the top 20, with most being caught up in incidents and some being caught up in several.

But one in particular had a rough evening, to the point where he couldn’t even finish his debut race.

AJ Waller, making his Truck Series debut with Reaume Brothers Racing in the No. 22, already entered the race with a story bigger than racing: He is a survivor of stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a battle he fought only a few years ago.

Qualifying 28th, Waller began to feel ill during stage two. Crew chief and team owner Josh Reaume later said he believed Waller began to feel overheated more than anything. Recognizing his health comes first, Waller decided to bring his truck to the garage to step out and head to the infield care center.

Not wanting a truck still capable of running longer to record a DNF, Reaume assumed driving duties of the truck. Reaume has done more driving then expected this season, running every race to this point — up until Martinsville, he was a full-time driver.

Reaume brought the truck home 31st, 26 laps behind Hemric. Waller, meanwhile, visited the infield care center, where he was checked and released. It’s unclear whether or not Waller will make another start this season, but it certainly feels like he should, given he didn’t get the chance to finish his first due to something out of his control like an illness.

However, to be a stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor and make a start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series should not go unnoticed, regardless of the result.

Talkin’ Truckers

Hemric on the win:

Ankrum (second) comes up short again; additionally, Jack Wood (19th) and Grant Enfinger (29th) had a run-in that left the former very unhappy:

Jake Garcia breaks down his third-place run, while Luke Baldwin (22nd) and his father Tommy discuss how they believe Luke’s Truck Series debut went:

Heim rebounded to sixth but still came up short two weeks in a row; he also gives his opinion on wasting laps under caution:

Honeycutt (26th) explains his side of the contact with both Heim and Majeski:

Reaume (31st for Waller) gives an update on Waller and an idea of in-truck conditions for drivers:

Paint Scheme of the Race

It’s always fun when teams and sponsors change up a paint scheme we’re used to seeing.

For Enfinger and CR7 Motorsports, the Grant County Mulch No. 9 got a refreshed paint scheme from last season. This year, the No. 9 GCM Chevrolet will feature more of a nature green look.

But at Martinsville they changed colors completely and showed up with a bright red Chevrolet Silverado RST.

Talk about completely changing things up — going from nature green to red is certainly a twist. The chrome No. 9 is a nice touch to this special paint scheme as well. Enfinger finished a dismal 29th after getting caught up in said incidents.

Next Stop

From one half-mile to another.

The Craftsman Truck Series will sit out throwback weekend this year at Darlington Raceway (which really stinks; maybe teams can put some throwback schemes together for the playoff race at Darlington in the fall) and will return in two weeks at Bristol Motor Speedway. Eckes won last year’s race much like this Martinsville race, but his status as an Xfinity Series driver means he will not defend his win — perhaps a good omen for Hemric.

Coverage for the Weather Guard Truck Race begins at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 11. Television coverage can again be found on FS1, while the new NASCAR Racing Network continues its exclusive season-long radio coverage of the Truck Series.

Follow @AnthonyDamcott on X.

Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter. He has also assisted with short track content and social media, among other duties he takes/has taken on for the site. In 2025, he became an official member of the National Motorsports Press Association. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight coordinator in his free time.

You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.