Early career Hmiel began racing in go-karts, winning 164 races from the age of twelve to fifteen. After quitting racing for three years, he began running
late model stock cars.
NASCAR career In 2001, Hmiel competed in the
NASCAR Goody's Dash Series, earning the Rookie of the Year award with two wins and thirteen top-ten finishes, finishing fifth in points. Initially planned to run a part-time schedule, sponsorship from Thomas Pacconi Classics,
Goulds Pumps, and
Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. expanded his schedule to the full season. Hmiel opened his rookie season with a fifth place finish at
Daytona. In 2003, Hmiel moved into Innovative's #48 car. After the first 26 races of the season, he already improved on his rookie season statistics, earning four top-fives and ten top-tens, and sat eighth in points. Hmiel also attempted to qualify for the
Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July in the
Winston Cup Series for
Petty Enterprises' famed #43 car, with normal driver
Christian Fittipaldi driving Petty's #44 car. He did not, however make the race.
First failed substance abuse test At the Funai 250 at
Richmond International Raceway, Hmiel was involved in several on track incidents, beginning on lap 103 when he spun the lapped car of
Randy MacDonald. Late in the race with five laps to go, Hmiel was involved in an accident with
Jason Keller. Hmiel was moved out of line down the backstretch, then divebombed into Keller in turn three, sending Keller's car into the wall driver's side first, collecting
Tim Fedewa. Hmiel was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for an altercation in the garage area after the race with Keller. Fellow competitor
David Green would later identify this race as a sign of bad times to come for Hmiel. A week later on September 18, Hmiel was suspended indefinitely for failing a drug test, testing positive for marijuana. According to
NASCAR's substance abuse policy, the sanctioning body is allowed to administer drug tests, based only on "reasonable suspicion", at their sole discretion. At the time, he was the highest-profile driver to fail such a test. Hmiel was released from
Innovative Motorsports, replaced with former Busch Series champion
Jeff Green at Dover, then several other veteran drivers for the remainder of the season. He was set to drive the #91 car for
Evernham Motorsports that weekend at Dover coming up but the team withdrew after the suspension.
2004–2005: Return to competition Hmiel was reinstated in 2004 after completing NASCAR's Road to Recovery program, and was picked up for the full
Craftsman Truck Series season by
Billy Ballew Motorsports, with crew chief
Ritchie Wauters. Hmiel scored his first and only NASCAR victory at the
Las Vegas 350 in September, racing hard with
Todd Bodine through lapped traffic, eventually bumping Bodine out of the way coming to the white flag. Hmiel returned to Busch Series competition at the ninth race of the season at
Fontana for
GIC-Mixon Motorsports, starting and finishing 32nd. After running three more races with GIC, he drove two races for
Akins Motorsports' #38 Dodge, scoring a fourth-place finish at
Milwaukee. In late October, Hmiel was signed to
Braun Racing, replacing
David Stremme in the
TrimSpa X32 Dodge for the remainder of the season beginning at
Atlanta Motor Speedway. He had a best finish of 22nd in four starts for Braun. Hmiel also made his
Nextel Cup Series debut in September at Fontana in the #23 car for
Bill Davis Racing. He ran 5 races for BDR, with a best finish of 24th at Kansas and Atlanta. For 2005, Braun formed an alliance with
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and switched to
Chevrolet. The team was also joined by new sponsor WinFuel Multivitamins, produced by TripSpa's parent company. Hmiel was in a series of commercials with
Dale Earnhardt Jr. to promote his sponsor's product. In addition to the full Busch Series schedule and a partial truck series schedule with Ballew, Braun and WinFuel fielded the #08 Chevrolet in a partial schedule in the Cup Series for Hmiel, debuting at Atlanta. During the
Sharpie 250 at
Bristol in April, Hmiel was involved in a very heated incident with Cup Series veteran
Dale Jarrett after Hmiel spun him out on the front stretch with three laps to go. The two were racing for 12th and 13th place, and Hmiel had
bumped and ran the last three drivers he had passed before getting to Jarrett's #90 car. Later, When an angry Jarrett leaned into Hmiel's window to question why Hmiel had spun him out, Hmiel appeared to have no remorse for his driving, then flipped the middle finger toward Jarrett as the latter was walking away. The incident was captured live on
Fox Sports' national television broadcast (especially the
finger gesture pointed at Jarrett) through Hmiel's in-car camera. Hmiel was fined
$10,000 and docked 25 points in the standings for the incident.
Ban from NASCAR At
Charlotte in May 2005, Hmiel was administered another substance test following Busch Series qualifying, after
NASCAR officials observed Hmiel making "erratic moves" on the racetrack. In June at
Dover, it was revealed that he had failed the test, and he was escorted from the garage by NASCAR officials. Hmiel had tested positive for marijuana and
cocaine, and was suspended "indefinitely" starting in May 2005. Hmiel was offered a chance at reinstatement after his second infraction, under condition that he submit to medical and psychological reviews, and frequent drug testing before reinstatement. In February, 2006, however, Hmiel failed a third and final drug test, and was banned for life from
NASCAR. The ban would be partially lifted in 2012 (see below). During his four-year NASCAR career, Hmiel appeared in seven Nextel Cup races, 83 Busch races, and 29 Truck Series races. He had one win: in the Truck Series'
Las Vegas 350 in 2004. Hmiel was not paid his 2005 salary for races prior to the suspension, as
Braun Racing alleged that Hmiel signed the contract in bad faith due to health concerns, leading Hmiel to sue the team for over $135,000 in earnings and another $135,000 for "bad faith dealings" by the team. Under oath, Hmiel admitted that he violated NASCAR's substance abuse policy with a positive test for marijuana in 2003 and a positive test for marijuana and cocaine in 2005. Hmiel denied he was using drugs on a regular basis (at least once a week) in 2005. Hmiel denied that he had tested positive for heroin at any time from 2003 to 2005, and testified that he was not under the influence of any drug at any time while he was racing. The disposition of the lawsuit is unknown.
Driving style During his stock car career, Hmiel's talent was often eclipsed by his fiery temperament, over-aggressive and impatient driving, and
unsportsmanlike conduct, leading to several on-and-off track altercations with other competitors. In a 2011 interview with
Fox Sports's
Steve Byrnes, Hmiel admitted "I'll run you over to win the race. I'd run you over to run seventh."
Drug rehabilitation A turning point in Hmiel's life came in July 2007, when he was involved in a bar fight that led to an infection in his hand due to teeth being lodged in it. He competed in all three national touring divisions of the
United States Auto Club in the USAC Silver Crown Series, the USAC National Sprint Car Series, and the USAC National Midget Series. In 2009, Hmiel earned his first USAC-sanctioned win in the Sprint Car division at
Iowa Speedway and scored a then-career-best dirt track finish of second in the Four Crown Nationals at
Eldora Speedway. Hmiel earned post-season honors as USAC's "Most Improved Driver." He was also named the Rookie of the Year in the 2009 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2010, Hmiel earned his first career Midget Series victory at
Hickory Motor Speedway less than an hour from
Mooresville, North Carolina, where he currently resides. The momentum from that victory carried on to other divisions. In the Sprint Car division, he broke the world speed record for a non-winged Sprint Car at Iowa Speedway, winning the pole with an average speed of 146.444 miles per hour. In addition to the speed record, he earned three victories, all on pavement, at
O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis (twice) and
Salem Speedway. In the Silver Crown division, he earned his first career series win and first dirt track win in the Hoosier Hundred race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. During the season Hmiel became the first driver to win the
Hoosier Hundred, Rich Vogler Classic, and Pat O'Connor Memorial, the three premier USAC midget-car races, in the same season. but a back injury kept him from competing in the race.
Accident, paralysis, and recovery While qualifying for a USAC Silver Crown race, Hmiel's car crashed at the
Terre Haute Action Track on October 9, 2010. The roll cage collapsed after hitting the retaining wall. He was airlifted to Methodist Hospital with head, back, and neck injuries. Shortly after arriving, he was in critical but stable condition after having been put into a medically induced coma to minimize brain swelling. Hmiel was paralyzed as a result of his injuries; Hmiel has since regained limited use of his limbs, but continues to require the use of a wheelchair. ==Post-racing career==