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Head Down, Fin Up: ‘Hotshoe’ Hemric Makes Statement for Blizzard Rivals with Papa John’s 125 Win

By Chuck Corder

The champ’s still standing.

After taking his fair share of body blows in the first two Buddy’s Home Furnishings Blizzard Series 125 lappers, Daniel Hemric counterpunched Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.

The 23 year old, who captured the Super Late Model track title in 2013, slammed the throttle down for the final 52 laps of the Papa John’s 125 on Friday.

Hemric punctuated the long-overdue win with his trademark backflip off the driver’s side window frame. Pensacola’s Johanna Long was 13th.

“It’s an honor to even get to drive a racecar for a living,� said Hemric, who makes his home in the NASCAR heartland of Kannapolis, N.C. “I feel confident we’re getting our stuff better and better.�

No time like the present.

It wasn’t like Hemric was enduring a disappointing season. He boasts four late model wins in another series and a slew of victories in his Legends cars, one of Hemric’s biggest passions.

But he was in a Southern Super Series drought nine races into the 16-race season.

Back in his familiar colors, the Jody Ridley-inspired Navy blue with white trim No. 98, Hemric drove inspired and erased those slumps. He was the class of the field following the competition caution at the 75-lap mark.

That mandated yellow turned out to be the only one of the night, as the 20 cars drove aggressive, but smart.

“I think those were the best adjustments we’ve ever made at a break: We just left it alone,� Hemric joked. “We usually mess it up.�

The ol’ “K.I.S.S.� was a wise strategy, seeing as how Hemric’s ride continued to peak as the laps whisked by.

Hemric wrestled the lead from young Spencer Davis two laps shy of the competition caution.

It was a tale of two halves for the 15-year-old Davis. He dominated the opening stanza and nearly put everybody with a window net a lap down.

Twenty laps in, he had a full-three-second and full-straightaway lead. But the teenager’s eagerness and precocious desire to lead every lap caught up with him when lapped traffic came into the picture.

Davis used a lot of his No. 129’s strength to make those passes, but in the process lost track of the fast-charging Hemric.

Hemric’s win brought a screeching halt to the Blizzard Series monopoly Bubba Pollard was trying to create at the famed half-mile oval.

Pollard, who had three wins in a row coming into Friday, had quite the roller coast ride Friday. Somehow, as the great ones tend to do, he shook off some early hiccups in a new, black-and-yellow No. 26 to come home third.

“We changed the whole racecar from what we’ve been running the whole year,� Pollard said. “We struggled with it.�

One’s man junk is another’s treasure.

Hunter Robbins would’ve loved a podium finish. He figured to be there after a sparkling start. The 2005 Snowflake 100 champion at 14 years old, Robbins set the fast time (16.416 seconds) in qualifying, but was only seventh-best when the checkered finally waved.

Mike Garvey, a Pensacola resident for the last two years, erased a unfulfilling season to date with a runner’s-up trophy for his best finish of the year.

“We’re getting better finally,� Garvey said. “We’re not all the way there, but we made big gains tonight. Before, we couldn’t race with them.�

The one car that had fans spellbound all night was Donnie Wilson in the No. 2.

The longtime Oklahoma City, Okla., native — infamous for coming out on the losing end of a duel with eventual champion Long at the 2010 Snowball Derby — was a top-five car on the strength of some aggressive and acrobatic driving.

While he amazingly managed a fourth, Wilson figured to finish either third or second before disaster struck with 15 laps left.

Trying to pass the lapped car of Will Gallaher, Wilson guessed wrong and the complete right side of his No. 2 went airborne after it piggybacked on the left side of Gallaher’s No. 5.

“It’s just one of those racing deals,� Wilson said nonchalantly. “I thought he was going to let me go by, but it’s no big deal.�

 

Faith Chapel Super Stocks

Don’t tell Dave Mader III that these AARP years are supposed to signal the twilight of a driver’s career.

The 59 year old is as feared today as he was when he outdueled future Sprint Cup star Mark Martin for the 1978 Snowball Derby title and enjoyed a four-year stretch where he was a NASCAR series champion in the mid-1980s.

While no longer steering a Super Late Model, Mader continues to polish his decorated career behind a Super Stocks steering wheel.

Mader completed a crafty, veteran pass of then-leader Bubba Winslow on Lap 17 to hoist his second 25-lap feature checkered flag of the season at Friday at Five Flags Speedway.

“I’m having a blast,� boomed Mader, who has more than 230 all-time wins. “You know I’ve had so many thousands of laps in a super late model, but things change. These kids don’t lay down. That was a lotta fun.�

On Friday, Mader played Winslow like a fiddle.

“Dave was definitely quicker,� Winslow said. “I appreciate him for running me clean. He could’ve spun us anytime he wanted.�

Patience was Mader’s virtue late in the race Friday. Not early, though.

Starting fifth, Mader forced his way to second when he made it three-wide coming out of Turn 3 on the opening lap.

Winslow, a four-time feature winner en route to track title a year ago, took the lead early, but quickly had a mirror-full of Mader.

Winslow didn’t budge from his lead, gluing his left-side tires to the apron and blocking Mader’s ideal line for a pass.

Finally on Lap 17, Mader slid underneath Winslow in Turn 1 to rip away the lead.

 

Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman

Shanna Ard and his No. 29 team burned the candle at both ends this week.

It paid off in the form of his second Sportsman feature win of the season, holding off a hard-charging Steve Buttrick, who opted to start tail end after earning the pole.

“We went through this thing the past 22 hours, and rebuilt the whole car,� the Milton driver said. “It was hooked up and I’m happy.�

Ard offered up a heartfelt apology in Victory Lane for having a small part in shaking up the points standings.

He collided with then-points leader Brannon Fowler on Lap 11.

Fowler and Ard were door to door for the lead around the track on Lap 11 when they both were way loose coming out of Turn 2.

Both cars were slip-sliding along the back straightaway before Ard, unintentionally, finished off Fowler when the No. 29’s nose clipped the No. 00’s left rear end and the tie rod to the right wheel broke.

“I take some blame for that,� admitted Ard, who also has four runner-up finishes this season. “I pushed him a little bit because we were letting off at the same time. I hooked him, but it was not on purpose. I don’t drive like that.�

Regardless, it created a big development in the standings.

Fowler came into the night leading by 44 points. With the 50 points he earned for the victory, Ard nearly erased that entire deficit. Fowler finished dead last in 14th, but still earned points and maintained his lead.

Meanwhile, Buttrick — the four-time defending Sportsman Snowball Derby champion — was having a blast.

“That was a lotta fun,� Buttrick said. “When you start up front, you don’t get to pass many cars. I got to pass a couple tonight.�

Twelve cars in all were his victims. Ard was the only one missing.

 

Butler U-Pull-It Bombers

With B.J. Leytham away, the rest of the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers got to play Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.

Leytham, Mobile-area driver, opted not to cross the bay bridge Friday. His decision opened the door for defending series track champion Michael Nelson to return to Victory Lane in the 20-lap feature.

“I haven’t seen this place in at least three or four races,� Nelson said. “It has sucked. I just gotta keep the ball rolling.�

In fact, Nelson hadn’t won since May 23. It’s only his second victory of the year.

Leytham has yet to lose between Pensacola and his home track of Mobile International Speedway.

John Kevin Merrritt, the “Duck Dynasty� lookalike, enjoyed a brief lead Friday before a caution flew. Still, Merritt posted his year’s best finish with runner-up honors.

“I gave it all I had, but we just had nothing for (Nelson),� Merritt said.

Series points leader Robert Balkum left the track still in the lead thanks to a third in which he had battled an extremely loose car.

“I think I got into a couple of cars out there,� Balkum said. “My apologies to those guys.�

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