“Ghosts on Track”: NASCAR Fans Bewildered by Kaulig Racing’s ‘Forgotten’ Cup Star Being Overlooked

With eight races into the NASCAR Cup Series, people have already started to pick their favorites to lift the trophy at the end of the season. The likes of William Byron, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin have already made their case as genuine contenders with their impressive runs. Meanwhile, there are a few drivers who have been out of sorts and fallen off the radar, thanks to their half-hearted runs and not-so-special performances. One driver who peaks these standings is Daniel Hemric from Kaulig Racing, who hasn’t been in news or events of late.

After making a comeback to the Cup Series after he ran in 2019, Daniel Hemric was roped in as a full-time driver for Kaulig Racing in 2024. However, despite his return to the premier series of NASCAR racing, nothing seems to have changed for the former RCR driver. As far as results are concerned, he hasn’t been able to deliver a big performance driving the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro.

Here’s how Daniel Hemric has performed so far this season

The 33-year-old was running in his rookie season back in 2019 with RCR, and he delivered some good finishes that season. A P5 finish at Talladega and a seventh-place finish at Pocono Raceway. Unfortunately, his return to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing has been just mediocre, to say the least.

The first three races were sort of decent, with him finishing inside the top 20 positions. But that changed soon; with the race at Phoenix, he started to fall further down the pecking order. He hit a real slump with a #37 finish during the road course race at COTA, and surprisingly, it wasn’t a DNF finish. His last two races at Richmond and Martinsville have followed a similar theme. In short, he hasn’t allowed himself to be in the spotlight and feels like he is racing just for the sake of it.

A result of his consistent run of poor performance also reflects on his overall standings. With almost nothing to show for, he is placed 31st in the driver’s standings, well off the top 16 drivers and playoff spots. At the current pace, he isn’t even in contention to fight for his place in the top 16. The only positive statistic that he has managed so far this season is that he has been on the lead lap once; that’s it.

Owing to this disappointing run by Daniel Hemric, NASCAR fans were in shock and almost forgot about him running in the Cup Series this season.

Fans react to his absence in the Cup Series

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One of the community members posted on Reddit about Hemric’s whereabouts and how he is forgotten despite running a full-time schedule. In response, several fans shared their thoughts on his situation. Taking a jibe at Kaulig Racing, a user wrote, “I kind of forgot that the Kaulig team was still full-time in Cup”.

One fan wasn’t too bothered about Daniel Hemric being forgotten and was satisfied that he wasn’t intentionally wrecking the news. “Had forgotten he was in cup. And honestly that’s okay, least he ain’t Quin houfing or wrecking every week in a way I notice him”.

Calling him and Harrison Burton out, another fan sharing his views wrote, “He and Harrison Burton are basically ghosts on track when they aren’t crashing.” Some fans even disregarded Kaulig Racing as the racing organization. However, one particular comment by a fan just summed up Kaulig’s achievement in a nutshell. “Kaulig peaked when AJ ran top 5 at Homestead in 2022. It’s been downhill ever since.”

Comment
byu/adogman88 from discussion
inNASCAR

The only good thing about Daniel Hemric’s dire run so far is that he still has plenty of opportunities to turn a corner and dish out some strong results. However, given the current state of his team, it’s hard to see him make a comeback or overturn his fortunes.