On Friday during Richard Childress Racing’s 50th anniversary season celebration, the team announced that Daniel Hemric is bringing back the iconic No. 8 Chevrolet full-time to NASCAR’s top division.
Replacing the No. 31 car formerly piloted by Ryan Newman, the No. 8 with Hemric behind the wheel brings back some nostalgic vibes from RCR’s golden days. The No.31 car had been part of RCR since the 1997 season when the organization expanded to run two cars full-time in the Cup Series.
Along with Hemric’s car number announcement, the team also unveiled two special gold-painted Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s that he and his teammate Austin Dillon will pilot during the 2019 Daytona 500 on Feb. 17.
During the 2019 Cup Series season, Daniel Hemric’s Chevy will be sponsored by five primary companies: Bass Pro Shops, Caterpillar, Liberty National Life Insurance, Cessna/Beechcraft, and VF Workwear. The team also confirmed that Luke Lambert will call the shots from the top of the pit box for the 27-year old next year.
On Sept. 28 at a news conference, the 73-year old Richard Childress announced that Daniel Hemric will move up from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series as a replacement for Ryan Newman. Childress also said that discussions had taken place in regards to changing the car number from 31 to 8.
Daniel Hemric enters the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series as a rookie, but the young gun is already looking forward to imprinting his name into the sport’s history book by bringing back a legendary car number and by racing some of the most memorable and fan favorite paint schemes.