NASCAR driver on crutches but still plans to race at Auto Club Speedway
On Saturday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers unloaded in the garage at Auto Club Speedway. Rain and snow washed out both qualifying and practice.
Another surprise was seeing Daniel Hemric on crutches. The 32-year-old drives the No. 11 for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
When Hemric arrived at the track, NASCAR tested the driver on his ability to get in and out of his machine with the injury. That test is for safety to make sure Hemric can remove himself from the car in the case of a fire or other issue.
Hemric passed the test. He then took to the track for pace laps ahead of the postponed race. That’s when more rain fell and pushed the race to Sunday night.
The driver noted the injury hasn’t been fully checked out but he has a history of leg injuries…
Daniel Hemric explains his knee injury
“I’ve had a long history of knee injuries, to be honest with you,” Daniel Hemric told Fox Sports.
“I’ve just been fortunate over the last 8-10 years, since driving NASCAR vehicles. Finally, my timeline ran out this past week.”
“Training, just planted my leg wrong. Knee folded on me.”
“It happened so late in the week, Thursday. Friday, got out on the plane to get out here. Can’t have MRI’s and all that stuff done until I get back home to North Carolina on Monday-Tuesday, hopefully.”
“I don’t know the extent of it. Other than, this is about number four, for me. It’s pretty obvious, I think I know what I’ve done to it. It’s just a matter of getting back and really assessing with it.”
“NASCAR and Kaulig working with me there. Facetiming me Thursday night to figure out what they gotta do to get me comfortable in the car. And the car was already out here.”
“I felt pretty comfortable riding around under the pace laps. All racers just adjust and adapt once you get into the heat of the moment. Having time to think about it is probably the worst case scenario.”
