MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Daniel Hemric and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing weren't the only ones celebrating Friday night after he broke through and scored his first NASCAR win since 2021. It seemed like a good portion of the industry joined in the festivities.
Whether they were hugging him on the frontstretch or posting on X, drivers were going out of their way to celebrate Hemric's return to victory lane.
"Man, I was jacked all night, honestly," said AJ Allmendinger, who called Hemric the best teammate he's ever had. "I was so happy. I barely could fall asleep. That's how happy I was for him.
"There might have been a chance I was almost more happy for him than he probably was for himself."
The excitement partially stemmed from friendships built in a close-knit garage. Hemric has decades of experience racing with and against such drivers as Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney, and Bubba Wallace.
This began in go-karts and continued all the way to NASCAR's national series.
"You can tell by Hemric's hairline; he's a little bit older than me," Wallace joked in response to a question from AltDriver. "So he was in the class above. But we were always there together.
"And his family and my family always vibed really well together. Hemric and I got close when we both got to Cup, and we remained close."
Photo credit: https://x.com/AJDinger
Yet, friendships were not the only source of joy on Friday night. These veteran drivers also had the context of knowing how Hemric's career hasn't played out in the traditional sense.
He's bounced between the national series while gaining and losing opportunities for a variety of reasons.
"He's had a lot of adversity thrown his way during his career, but he's never given up," said Blaney, a driver who celebrated with Hemric on the track on Friday night.
"He's always been a gritty guy and always done what he needed to do to be successful."
Hemric competed in Xfinity in 2017-18 and Cup in 2019 for Richard Childress Racing. He reached the Xfinity Championship 4 twice and won Cup Rookie of the Year, but he lost his seat to Tyler Reddick.
He moved back to Xfinity to run a partial schedule for JR Motorsports in 2020 before joining Joe Gibbs Racing on a full-time basis in 2021.
This lone season in the No. 18 was the best of his career. Hemric won the Xfinity championship and his first national series race in 2021. However, he did not defend his title with JGR. Instead, he headed to Kaulig Racing the following season.
Hemric spent three seasons with Kaulig -- two in Xfinity and one in Cup -- but didn't replicate the success he had at Joe Gibbs Racing.
He went winless in two Xfinity seasons (2022-23) and only made it to the second round of the playoffs. He finished 29th in the Cup Series standings last season as Kaulig struggled to find speed.
Kaulig Racing went in a different direction after the 2024 Cup Series season. The team brought in Ty Dillon to drive full-time alongside Allmendinger, which left Hemric without a seat once again.
Photo credit: https://x.com/C_Rice1
Hemric didn't express bitterness about losing his seat. He thanked Kaulig for the opportunities, and then he set about looking for what was next.
"To see all that he's gone through, his journey, it's incredible how he keeps a demeanor about him that is so positive and so uplifting," Wallace said. "It's motivation for me. Because I honestly don't know if you could meet a nicer guy in the garage."
While Hemric lost his seat at Kaulig Racing, his time in NASCAR was not complete. He landed a ride with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. He replaced Christian Eckes in the dominant No. 19 team as Eckes moved up to the Xfinity Series with Kaulig.
This was not a simple plug-and-play switch, however, considering that crew chief Charles Denike joined forces with Wallace at 23XI Racing. This forced MHR to make some personnel changes to keep the speed in a truck that had won eight races across two seasons.
"It's definitely not the same truck that it's been around the last couple years," said Allmendinger, who continues to text Hemric frequently. "So I know a little bit of the hard work he had to put in just getting the right people in place to make it that (dominant) team."
Getting back to contending for wins took a little bit of time this season as the team put the pieces in place. Hemric finished seventh at Daytona, 16th at Atlanta, and 13th at Las Vegas. He then finished fifth at Homestead in what was his most complete race of the season.
Friday night, he surpassed all of these marks. He raced around the top five in the first two stages and then lined up on the second row for the final restart. Once the green flag waved, Hemric hounded teammate Tyler Ankrum before cleanly making the race-winning pass.
"Last night, he had the faster truck and he had the mindset," Wallace said. "He had the experience to utilize all that and to capitalize.
"So I called him at 8:30 this morning and just talked to him for a second. You could hear it in his voice -- the lack of voice that he has -- that he was just pumped. So I'm proud for him, proud of him."
Said Blaney, "It's always refreshing when you see really good guys who have maybe not gotten great chances and have kind of jumped around series go win races and be successful."