damtree.pages.dev

Rick hendrick, wife

    •

Rick Hendrick
Owner, Hendrick Motorsports
Chairman, Hendrick Automotive Group

Full Name:

Joseph Riddick Hendrick III

Birthplace:

Warrenton, North Carolina

Birth date:

July 12, 1949

Hometown:

Palmer Springs, Virginia

Rick Hendrick is a self-described "gearhead" who turned his passion for the automobile into successful business ventures in the retail automotive and professional auto racing industries.

Raised on a tobacco farm near the small community of Palmer Springs, Virginia, Hendrick worked on and raced cars as a young man. Alongside his father, "Papa Joe," he rebuilt his first car, a 1931 Chevrolet, at age 14 and regularly traveled to racetracks across the region, often volunteering as a crew member. After high school, he moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, to pursue a co-op program with North Carolina State University and Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Although he was studying to become a tool and die maker, Hendrick’s enthusiasm for cars led him down a different career path. In Raleigh, he connected with established dealer Mike Leith and opened a small used car lot.

    •

Rick Hendrick

American racing driver and team owner (born 1949)

Joseph Riddick "Rick" Hendrick III (born July 12, 1949) is an American businessman. He is best known as the owner of the NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports. He is also a co-owner of JR Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group, a network of over 100 car dealerships.

As of 2024, his team has won 304 NASCAR Cup Series races, making him the winningest team owner in NASCAR.[1] His team has also won a combined total of 18 NASCAR Championships: 14 in the NASCAR Cup Series (seven by Jimmie Johnson, four by Jeff Gordon, and one each by Chase Elliott, Terry Labonte, and Kyle Larson), three in the NASCAR Truck Series (all by Jack Sprague) and one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (by Brian Vickers in 2003). He is one of only three owners in history to win NASCAR Championships in the top three series, joining Richard Childress and Jack Roush. Hendrick was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2020.[2]

Career

Hendrick began dr

    •

By Godwin Kelly

Rick Hendrick used his wits and salesmanship and combined that with an unbridled passion for NASCAR racing to piece together a one-car Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team in 1984.

He wooed master mechanical genius Harry Hyde into being crew chief and hired 1982 Rookie of the Year Geoff Bodine to wheel the No. 5 All-Star Racing Chevrolet.

The 34-year-old owner, a few months younger than his driver, had a dream of becoming a Cup Series fixture.

Going into the eighth race of the season at Martinsville, the dream was transforming into a nightmare. Basically, Hendrick, who owned a car dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina, was out of money.

"And you know, if you close the doors, you probably don't come back," Hendrick said. "And Geoff Bodine knew that. I had told him and Harry I'd go as far as I could."

They had to talk Hendrick into entering the Martinsville race.

But all the stars aligned for Hendrick Motorsports on April 29, 1984 when Bodine shocked the world and won Martinsville. Hendrick wasn't at the track that day. He stayed home and went to church.

Copyright ©damtree.pages.dev 2025