Video: Daniel Hemric Holds Back Tears Talking About Wife During Championship Speech

“…and to my wife, Kenzie, here I have to hold it together.”

2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Daniel Hemric has faced a lot of hardships throughout his career in NASCAR’s top-three series, from the constant question of “when does the first victory come”, to the consistent battle to remain relevant and present on the big stage.

Alongside the 30-year-old in all of these questions, has been his wife of four years, Kenzie, to who he dedicated an emotional portion of his championship speech to, fighting back tears while speaking about the sacrifices she’s made for him and his career.

“From the times of you having to make sure you pointed me to park on a hill, so I could jumpstart my car, to being here tonight, as beautiful as always, you never once wavered,” Hemric said while fighting back tears. “You sacrificed so much, so that you, Rhen, and I, could live this dream, and doing it together means the world to me, and I look forward to whatever is next for us.”

Kenzie (Ruston) Hemric, who announced her engagement to Hemric at the end of 2015, had her own career racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and ARCA Menards Series between 2011 and 2015, running three full seasons in the East Series, with a best finish of second place, and a best final points result of sixth.

“If this is the destination, great, we’re going to enjoy it for sure,” Hemric continued. “but, I’ll say this for certain, the journey to this destination tonight, has been everything.”

??????@DanielHemric | #NASCARAwards pic.twitter.com/baxyNRonzP

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) December 5, 2021