2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Daniel Hemric will compete at the YellaWood 500 at Talladega on October 2nd. Hemric sat down with Celeb Secrets to discuss his excitement for the race, his love for racing cars, pre-race rituals, and his partnership with CELSIUS Energy Drink.
The YellaWood 500 is one of the primary races within NASCAR as it is part of the NASCAR playoffs. The race takes place at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Something of note is that the 2006 comedy blockbuster “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” takes place in Talladega, as described in its name.
Hemric comes into this race with CELSIUS Energy Drink as his primary sponsor for the first time. “it’s a special thing you know when a company takes that kind of a leap to be a part of the premier series at the cup level and pick up an entire partnership, that’s a big deal, so I don’t take it lightly,” Hemric tells Celeb Secrets reporter Rob Cao in an exclusive interview.
.@DanielHemric is bringing the fire and ice colors this weekend to @TALLADEGA! 🔥❄️#YellaWood500 | #Sparks300 | #TrophyHunting pic.twitter.com/FCFhOHMXFv
— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) September 28, 2022
CELSIUS has been one of the most fast-rising businesses recently and have been involved with sports of all type, including boat racing. CELSIUS has been a partner of Kaulig Racing for some time now, and now that Hemric has joined the team, he’s received this opportunity for such a significant partnership.
The YellaWood 500 at Talladega takes place on NBC on October 2 at 2 pm ET.
Keep scrolling for the full Q&A below and let us know your thoughts on Hemric, his partnership with CELSIUS, and the YellaWood 500! You can connect with Daniel by giving him a follow on Instagram at @danielhemric.
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Celeb Secrets: What are you most looking forward to this weekend?
Daniel Hemric: “What I’m most looking forward to is the opportunity to drive a race car. I’ve always said that I never take every opportunity, and every weekend I get the chance to drive a race car for granted. It’s even more special to go and do that, knowing that I have double duty the following weekend, you know, with the Bank Of America Roval 400 and the Yellawood 500 Cup this weekend at Talladega; it’s always weekend’s I look forward to so you know looking forward to going down there. You know, being a part of a race weekend in a great market and having Celsius on board, on my cup car, first time I’ve worked with them as a partner within Kaulig Racing and directly as a primary sponsor on our car. I have a new partner in First Bank of Alabama on my car, so really cool weekend for a lot of us involved.”
CS: What does it feel like to be partnered with such a successful brand like CELSIUS?
DH: “Yeah, it’s great man; I’ve said many times in the last couple days that Kaulig Racing was a partner with CELSIUS well before I got to Kaulig Racing and then being able to grow that partnership from product to whatnot to being a primary on my car once this year with Justin Haley and now this race with me, it’s a special thing you know when a company takes that kind of a leap to be a part of the premier series at the cup level and pick up an entire partnership, that’s a big deal, so I don’t take it lightly. I know we are thankful for their partnership. It’s been cool to see it grow to what it is.”
CS:Do you have any pre-race rituals you can share?
DH: “I’m pretty boring in all reality. You know I have my typical pre-race morning, spend a little time with the family, eating a little breakfast with them, and then during race days, it’s pretty hectic once you leave the motor coach lot; after that morning, it’s appearances and all of things and obligations that we all sign up as race car drivers. That’s what pretty much takes you to driver intro time, so not too many rituals, though. I guess thinking more about it, I always put my left glove left shoe on first; outside of that, though, nothing crazy.”
CS:What do you love most about what you do?
DH:“I get to drive race cars for a living. My job is something that I love, it’s something I’ve done my whole life, and when it feels that way, it doesn’t really feel like a job, right? So, feel super thankful for that, super thankful to have been in this sport, been driving race cars for as long as I have, and to be able to provide for myself and my family for as long as I have doing this, yeah, I don’t take that for granted, pretty neat.”
CS:What can you say to people around the world who want to become NASCAR drivers?
DH:“It’s not even specifically about becoming NASCAR drivers, man; it’s about striving to achieve things that you think are way bigger than you or bigger than you’re ever capable of. I feel like I look back at 5-year-old, eight-year-old, ten-year-old me and talk about wanting to race at the cup level; I was fortunate enough to get there. I don’t feel like that younger version of me would ever felt that was possible but through the grind and through the work ethic and just always showing up to put the work in, you can achieve anything you want, and that doesn’t have to be NASCAR, it can be anything that you strive and think it’s out of reach, it’s always in reach if you put your mind to it.”
Don’t forget: YellaWood 500 at Talladega LIVE from Lincoln, Alabama October 2 @ 2pm ET on NBC.
