Background
Hemphill, a second generation racer, started his racing career at the age of 12, when his father put him behind the wheel of a go-kart.
Hemphill, a second generation racer, started his racing career at the age of 12, when his father put him behind the wheel of a go-kart.
He went on to race in go-carts both locally and nationally for a period of 3 years. During this span, Hemphill collected approximately 50 wins. At the age of 15, Hemphill advanced to Legacy cars (three-quarter scale Nextel Cup cars), where he competed for 2 years and amassed 5 wins and 3 poles including winning the Blue-Grey Shootout at the Jennerstown Speedway(Pennsylvania) and the Fireball Roberts Memorial at the famed Hickory Motor Speedway (North Carolina).
In 1999, while a senior at Kiski Area High School (Pennsylvania), Hemphill moved into Late Model competition locally at the Motordrome (Pennsylvania) and Jennerstown (Pennsylvania) Speedways.
At the Motordrome Speedway, Hemphill garnered 20 top 10 finishes in 20 starts while finishing 2nd in the tight points battle, while at Jennerstown he finished a strong 6th in points. The 2000 season saw Hemphill continue his maturation as a race car driver.
He continued his participation at the Motordrome Speedway as he finished 3rd in the overall points and collected 3 wins, 17 top 5 and 10 top 10 finishes. Hemphillalso stepped up with his participation in 2 American Speed Association (American Statistical Association) events where he finished 12th in both.
The year was capped off with his high school graduation and being named Auto Racing Club of Hagerstown (Doctor of Medicine) Sportsman of the Year.
In 2001, Hemphill concentrated on gaining as much experience behind the wheel of a race car as possible. He expanded his American Statistical Association schedule and competed in 6 events with a season best 6th-place finish at the Chicago Motor Speedway. Hemphill also moved up to the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing All-Pro Series and impressed many with his 3rd-place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park in his first race as well as a 4th-place finish in his Associate of the Royal College of Art Re/Max Series debut at the Milwaukee Mademoiselle (Miss)
Hemphill made himself known in 2002 and 2003 driving in the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Craftsman Truck Series for multiple owners, including Rick Ware, Bobby Hamilton, and Billy Ballew.
In nine races, he scored one top ten. Hemphill broke out in the 2004 Associate of the Royal College of Art season, scoring 6 wins and 10 top tens in eleven races, under the Chip Ganassi Racing driver development program
In 2005, Hemphill was promoted to the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Busch Series in the Biagi Brothers Racing Ganassi-assisted program, driving the #4 Government Employees Insurance Company Dodge Charger.
He was also selected as a member of the General Motors Vortec Power Team Professionals.