While in recovery from the aforementioned 2010 crash, Hmiel started a new USAC midget car team, partnering with former series champion Levi Jones. One year after the accident, Jones would score a victory in a car owned by Hmiel. Nearly two years after the accident, Hmiel was allowed back into a NASCAR garage for the first time since the 2006 ban, as a guest of Billy Ballew Motorsports and the crew chief, Nick Harrison (who had worked with Hmiel in the past) at Atlanta Motor Speedway, watching as Kurt Busch raced the team's No. 51 entry (in the truck Hmiel had won with in 2004) to a top-10 finish.