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Hendrick Motorsports

 
Hoover's Company Profiles:

Hendrick Motorsports, LLC

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Contact Information
Hendrick Motorsports, LLC
4400 Papa Joe Hendrick Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28262
NC Tel. 704-455-3400
Fax 704-455-0346

Type: Private
On the web: http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com

Stock car racing runs in the family at Hendrick Motorsports. The company formed by CEO Rick Hendrick is a major force in NASCAR Sprint Cup auto racing, with four teams competing for the checkered flag. Its top drivers include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Mark Martin. The company handles marketing and licensing for its racing teams, in addition to providing cars designed and built at its 100-acre complex. Hendrick Motorsports also builds and re-builds some 550 engines. Founder Rick Hendrick, who also owns car dealership Hendrick Automotive Group, started Hendrick Motorsports with veteran driver Harry Hyde in 1984.

Officers:
Chairman and CEO: Joseph (Rick) Riddick Hendrick III
VP and CFO: Scott Lampe
VP Marketing: Patrick (Pat) Perkins

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Hendrick Motorsports, Inc.

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Incorporated: 1984 as All-Star Racing
NAIC: 711211 Sports Teams and Clubs
SIC: 7941 Sports Clubs, Managers & Promoters

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hendrick Motorsports, Inc. (HMS), is one of the top motor racing enterprises in the United States, focusing on NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) series. HMS runs four race teams in NASCAR's premier division, the Nextel Cup competition, as well as a pair of teams in the lower tier Busch Series. HMS drivers, including Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, have won six Nextel Cups and Winston Cups (the series sponsor before Nextel) in the company's first 22 years. Sponsor partners include CARQUEST, Chevrolet, Delphi, DuPont, GMAC Insurance, Georgia Pacific, Gillette, Goodyear, Pepsi, Quaker State, and Time Warner Cable. The company's base of operations is a 90-acre complex in Charlotte where all of the organization's race cars are constructed. Garages are modeled after Formula 1 shops in Europe that allow fans to watch mechanics work on the race cars. The complex also includes the Hendrick Museum and Speed Shop to further cater to visitors. In addition, HMS takes care of its own licensing, merchandising, and marketing in-house. HMS is owned by its chairman and chief executive officer, J. Richard (Rick) Hendrick III, who is also one of the United States' largest auto dealers.

Rick Hendrick, Tobacco Road Born: 1949

Rick Hendrick was born on a tobacco farm in Warrenton, North Carolina, in 1949. Because his father raced modified cars on the weekends, it was not surprising that Hendrick developed an interest in auto racing. When he was just 15 years old he rebuilt a 1931 Chevrolet with help from his father, and then set speed records at his local drag strip. He also proved his mechanical abilities by winning the regional portion of an engine building competition, the Chrysler-Plymouth Troubleshooting Content. Although Hendrick soon gave up dreams of becoming a race car driver, when his mother objected because of the dangers, to attend North Carolina State University, he did not relinquish his interest in cars. To earn spending money, on weekends he worked on cars at a local service station, where he soon met a wholesaler named Sear Sauls and began performing tune-ups for him. Hendrick quickly realized that he could make a lot more money by fixing cars to sell, and began doing a tidy business, helped by his mother who worked at a bank and could provide him with 90-day notes to finance the operation.

Sauls took Hendrick to an auto auction one day, and the young man began diagnosing car problems for some of the dealers. One of them was Mike Leith, a car dealer from the Raleigh, North Carolina, area who was so impressed with Hendrick that he offered him a job when he finished school. Thus, in 1971 Hendrick became the general sales manager of Leith's import division and a year later became the general manager of Leith's entire operation. When he was just 26, General Motors asked Hendrick to take over a struggling rural South Carolina dealership that was so small that it did not even have a showroom. Hendrick raised all the money he possibly could to acquire the dealership, and not only did he make a success of it, but General Motors also rewarded his efforts by giving him a chance to take over one of the largest dealerships in all of North Carolina, City Chevrolet in Charlotte, when its owner decided to retire. The dealership, which had never placed much emphasis on used cars or financing until Hendrick's arrival, quickly became a cash cow and served as a foundation for a mega-dealership, which included Chevrolet, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, and eventually Saturn dealerships.

With financial success, Hendrick was able to indulge his interest in racing. In the late 1970s he became involved in drag boat racing, and in the early 1980s his boats won three consecutive national titles. However, his passion for the sport came to an abrupt end in 1982 when one of his drivers, a friend, was killed in a racing accident. Hendrick looked for a place to store his boats in Charlotte. The man who would provide that storage space, however, was Harry Hyde, a longtime NASCAR crew chief who had left NASCAR a few years earlier after a dispute with his new owner. Hyde encouraged Hendrick to become involved in NASCAR and promised that if Hendrick built a car he would make sure it was a winner.

All-Star Racing: 1984

Hendrick eased into stock car racing by participating in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series (today's Busch Series) in 1983. Late in the year he teamed up with C. K. Spurlock, and in 1984 they formed All-Star Racing. The former public relations head of a race track, Spurlock turned his attention to promoting musical acts and became Kenny Rogers' manager. He was going to bring in Rogers as a partner to All-Star Racing, and the great Richard Petty was supposed to be the driver. When those plans fell apart, All-Star Racing turned to a New York-born driver named Geoff Bodine, who had just completed his rookie year in NASCAR. He joined a shoestring operation with no sponsorship, little financing, and a crew chief that everyone considered to be over the hill.

All-Star Racing set up shop in a 5,000-square-foot boat shed leased from Hyde and five employees to work on the car. When the team showed up at the first race of the year in 1984, and the most important, The Daytona 500, the Bodine #5 car had no sponsored decals on it other than the business logo for City Chevrolet and an associate sponsorship from Northwestern Security Life. The team finished a respectable eighth at Daytona and posted other top ten results over the next few weeks. Yet Hendrick, who was far from a wealthy man at this stage, was not certain how much longer he would be able to bankroll the operation. Then, in only Hendrick's eighth race as a car owner, Bodine drove to victory lane at the race held at Martinsville, Virginia, and with it came a much needed $100,000 from NASCAR's Winner's Circle program. Bodine won two more races that year, capping off a stellar season with a win at Riverdale, California, on the final weekend. A major sponsorship deal with Levi Garrett tobacco soon followed and Hendrick's financial worries ended and he was able to devote his attention to building a solid organization.

Hendrick and Spurlock severed their ties, and in 1985 Hendrick Motorsports, Inc., was formed to run Bodine's Levi Garrett Chevrolet. Although the car ran strong it never captured a victory in 1985. Nevertheless, HMS announced that in 1986 it would field two cars, something that the NASCAR establishment said was foolhardy. The second driver, sponsored by Folger's coffee, would be Tim Richmond, who had participated in Winston Cup racing for several years. He would enjoy a stellar year with HMS, winning the most races of anyone, seven, although finishing third in the points competition for the Winston cup.

Still defying conventional wisdom, HMS added a third team in 1987, hiring one of NASCAR's top drivers, Darrell Waltrip. It proved to be a difficult season, however. Waltrip struggled all year, and Richmond's health began to fail, attributed to double pneumonia, and he was unable to compete at times. Veteran driver Benny Parsons was called on to take over Richmond's car several times, and even Hendrick raced it at Riverside at the end of the year. Richmond was soon diagnosed with AIDS, news withheld from the public but not from NASCAR. He attempted a comeback in 1988 but was banned by NASCAR for failing a drug test that only he among the drivers was subjected to. Although he passed a second test, Richmond was forced out by NASCAR, which would allow him to drive again only if he made all of his medical records public. Because of the stigma attached to AIDS at the time, he chose to retire, although word soon leaked out about his condition. Despite Richmond's shabby treatment by NASCAR in the opinion of many, his comeback would have been short-lived, regardless. He wasted away and died in seclusion in August 1989.

Driver Ken Schrader took over Richmond's car in 1988, with Hyde serving as his crew chief. At the end of the year Hyde, not happy with sharing the resources of a three-car team, left HMS. His relationship with Hendrick would soon be fictionalized when Hollywood decided to bring NASCAR to the screen with actor Tom Cruise playing a maverick driver learning how to win from a gruff crew chief, à la Hyde, played by Robert Duvall, and Hendrick was brought in to advise on the script. The result was Days of Thunder, released in 1990.

As HMS entered the 1990s it had three full-time race teams and a fourth car driven by Greg Sacks on a limited schedule. By 1992 Waltrip left HMS, leaving Hendrick with two drivers but three cars. It was then that a young driver named Jeff Gordon caught his attention, as he did many NASCAR teams. Gordon had been a racing phenomenon since his childhood in California. In order to allow him to start racing sprint cars at the age of 13, his family moved to Indiana, where laws were more lenient than in California. He soon moved on to midget racers and at the age of 18 relocated to North Carolina to become a Busch series driver in 1992, when he was named rookie of the year. Gordon was courted by a number of Winston Cup teams, but some balked at his demand that his Busch crew chief, Ray Evernham, had to accompany him to Winston Cup racing. Although the 38-year-old Evernham had never been a Winston Cup crew chief, Hendrick was willing to take the chance and signed Gordon.

Gordon Wins a Championship: 1995

Sponsored by DuPont Automotive Finish, Gordon ran the final race of the 1992 season. Then, bringing a fresh perspective to Winston Cup racing, Evernham created a race program. He designed the largest NASCAR race shop at 10,000 square feet at the HMS complex. He also assembled the sport's first professional pit crew, the Rainbow Warriors, an allusion to the car's DuPont paint job. They would work out together and practice pit stops with a purpose never before seen in NASCAR, and when fractions of a second saved in the pits translated into hundreds of yards of track position, the competitive advantage proved significant. Overseeing the crew was a Stanford graduate in organizational management. The first year proved an inconsistent one for Gordon's team, and it finished 14th in points. The team hit their stride in 1995, though, winning three of the first six races on Gordon's way to becoming the youngest Winston Cup champion. Another edge that benefited all of the teams was Hendrick's willingness to invest in the latest technology. In the early 1990s, for example, he agreed to spend $750,000 on a German-built, pioneering computer numerical control machine that was designed for hip replacements but HMS engineers converted to produce precise handcrafted parts needed to build an engine. Not only were the man hours needed to build the parts cut almost in half, the parts were more uniform and provided a boost in horsepower.

While Evernham delivered three Winston Cup championships with Gordon in the mid-1990s, he was not devoted to the team concept at HMS, and was reluctant to share information with the other HMS teams. That attitude changed after Evernham's departure in 1999 and Robbie Loomis became Gordon's new crew chief. Subsequent crew chiefs would be hired in large part on their ability and willingness to communicate with the entire group.

While Gordon was enjoying tremendous success and the other HMS drivers were also performing well, Hendrick was forced to step away from the operation for personal reasons. First, his dealership business became caught up in a kickback scandal related to American Honda executives giving preferential treatment to dealers in exchange for providing them with cars that had become extremely scarce, and therefore highly profitable, due to voluntary import restrictions. In December 1996 Hendrick was indicted on 15 counts of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering, along with his brother and business associate, John Hendrick. The crux of the case was the allegation that Hendrick helped to finance a house for a Honda sales executive and then made regular deliveries of cash to help him pay off the house note. Just before the indictment, Hendrick was informed that he had chronic myelogenous leukemia, a type of bone cancer. In order to focus on his health, Hendrick reached a plea deal with prosecutors in August 1997 and several months later at sentencing he apologized for his conduct. He was fined $250,000, sentenced to three years of probation, and confined to his Charlotte home for 12 months. He was also not permitted to be involved with HMS or his auto dealerships.

Hendrick regained his health, and as the new century dawned, HMS continued to thrive. In 2000 HMS unveiled plans to construct a new 85,000-square-foot building to house the operations of both Gordon as well as driver Jimmie Johnson, a promising new driver who was set to join HMS for the 2002 season. He had a stellar rookie campaign, winning three races and finishing fifth in the final Nextel Cup standings. He would finish second the next two seasons before winning the championship in 2006.

While HMS was enjoying tremendous success in the early 2000s and establishing the standard for multicar operations, the operation also overcame tragedy. In October 2004 one of the HMS planes, beset with foggy weather on its way to a race at Martinsville, Virginia, crashed, taking ten lives, including Hendrick's brother John, Hendrick's son Ricky, team general manager Jeff Turner, engine director Randy Dorton, as well as John Hendrick's twin daughters, a DuPont representative, the pilot for driver Tony Stewart, the pilot, and copilot. It was a devastating loss both personally and for the HMS organization, yet everyone persevered. On the day of the crash, Johnson won the Martinsville race, and won again the following week at Atlanta.

In 2006 Johnson garnered his first championship for HMS. The following season, HMS and its four drivers dominated Nextel Cup races for the first four months, winning ten of 14 races, with Gordon and Johnson each winning four times. Hendrick's stable of drivers grew even stronger when Dale Earnhardt, Jr., son of the legendary Dale Earnhardt and NASCAR's most popular driver, agreed to join HMS for the 2008 season.

Principal Competitors

Joe Gibbs Racing; Roush Fenway Racing; Wood Brothers Racing Inc.

Further Reading

Anderson, Lars, "Of Tragedy and Teamwork," Sports Illustrated, October 24, 2005, p. 52.

Bernstein, Viv, "10 Are Killed in Crash of Hendrick Team Plane," New York Times, October 25, 2004, p. D4.

McCraw, Jim, "The Making of a Winston Cup Champion," Popular Mechanics, April 1996, p. 72.

Meier, Barry, "Rick Hendrick's Days of Thunder," New York Times, July 10, 1994, p. A1.

"Rick Hendrick: Hendrick Automotive Group," Dealer Magazine, December 2005.

Robinson, Edward A., "Fall of a Megadealer," Fortune, April 28, 1997, p. 34.

Sheldon, Kathy, "Rick Hendrick: Owner, Hendrick Motorsports," Sporting News, June 7, 2004, p. 40.

Spencer, Lee, "It's Truly One for All at HMS," Sporting News, January 26, 2004, p. 56.

— Ed Dinger


Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Hendrick Motorsports

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Hendrick Motorsports
HendrickMSLogo.png
Owner(s) Rick Hendrick
Base Concord, North Carolina
Series Sprint Cup Series
Race drivers 5. Kasey Kahne
24. Jeff Gordon
48. Jimmie Johnson
88. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Sponsors 5. Farmers Insurance Group/Quaker State
24. AARP/Drive to End Hunger/DuPont
48. Lowe's
88. Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard of the United States
Manufacturer Chevrolet
Career
Debut 1984 Goody's 300
Races competed 3,349
Drivers' Championships Total:14
Sprint Cup 10
1995,1996,1997,1998,2001
2006,2007,2008,2009,2010
Nationwide Series: 1
2003
Camping World Series: 3
1997,1999,2001
Race victories 241
Pole positions 227

Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas.[1] One of stock car racing's premier organizations, Hendrick Motorsports has garnered ten Sprint Cup Series owners and drivers championships, three Camping World Truck Series owners and drivers titles, and one Nationwide Series drivers crown, 199 Sprint Cup Series victories, 29 Nationwide Series wins, and 25 Camping World Truck Series victories.[2]

The team currently fields four Sprint Cup Series cars, including the #5 Farmers Insurance Group/Quaker State Chevrolet Impala for Kasey Kahne, the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont Chevrolet Impala for four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, the #48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet Impala for five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, and the #88 Diet Mountain Dew/United States National Guard Chevrolet Impala for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The 2009 season marked the 25th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports, which has fielded cars for past NASCAR stars Geoff Bodine, Tim Richmond, Darrell Waltrip, Benny Parsons, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, and Brian Vickers.

All Hendrick race cars are constructed start-to-finish at the 100-plus acre Hendrick Motorsports complex in Concord, North Carolina. More than 550 engines are built or re-built on-site each year, with the team leasing some of those to other NASCAR outfits. Hendrick Motorsports employs over 500 people that perform many day-to-day activities.[3] In 2009 Hendrick Motorsports made history by having 3 out of 4 drivers in the top 3 places in the points.

Contents

Sprint Cup Series

Car #5 history

2008 #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet, driven by Casey Mears.

Hendrick Motorsports debuted in 1984 under the banner "All Star Racing" with the #5 Northwestern Security Life Chevy Monte Carlo, driven by Geoff Bodine. Running all 30 races, Bodine and the team won three times and finished ninth in points. Levi Garrett came on board to sponsor the #5 Chevy in 1985. Despite not winning a race that year, Bodine improved to fifth in points. The team briefly became a two-car operation when Dick Brooks drove the #1 Exxon Chevy at Charlotte Motor Speedway, in what proved to be Brooks' last NASCAR race.

Hendrick moved to a multi-car team full-time in 1986, with Bodine and Tim Richmond as drivers. Bodine won twice in the #5 and posted an eighth place finish in points. His younger brother, Brett, raced as a teammate in the World 600 that year. Bodine went winless again in 1987, finishing thirteenth in points. Bodine won one race each of the next two years before leaving for Junior Johnson in 1990. Ricky Rudd took his place, winning once and finishing seventh in points. For 1991, the team received sponsorship from Tide as part of the car's merger with Darrell Waltrip's old team. Winning one race that year, Rudd finished a career high second in points. On the final lap of that year's race at Sears Point Raceway, second-place Rudd spun out leader Davey Allison on the last turn and went on to win. NASCAR penalized the team for rough driving and awarded Allison the win. Rudd won once each of the next two years, and then left to form his own team, taking Tide with him.

The #5 car as it looked from 1994 until 2000.

Rudd's replacement was 1984 Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte. The car received sponsorship from Kellogg's and their Corn Flakes brand. Labonte won three races each in 1994 and 1995, and defeated teammate Jeff Gordon for the 1996 Winston Cup championship by 37 points. Labonte won one race each of the next three seasons. The 2000 season was a very difficult year for the team as two long streaks that defined Labonte's career came to an end. In the Pepsi 400, Labonte crashed his car and broke his leg. After an accident at New Hampshire damaged his inner ear, Labonte was not capable of driving, and he ended up missing two races, bringing his streak of most consecutive races to an abrupt end. Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday, Jr. subbed for Labonte. His six-year winning streak was also broken as he failed to visit victory lane that year.

At the end of the 2000 season Labonte's team switched to Kellogg's Frosted Flakes brand for its primary sponsorship. After a couple of low-key years, Labonte finished tenth in the points in 2003. He also revisited victory lane after a four-year drought, winning the final Southern 500 at Darlington. After slipping to twenty-sixth in points in 2004, Labonte announced his semi-retirement. He would drive a limited schedule for two years before officially retiring after the 2006 season. Hendrick tabbed Kyle Busch as his replacement.

Busch easily won the 2005 rookie of the year battle and made history when he took the checkered flag in the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway for his first win, becoming the youngest driver to ever win a Cup Series race at the age of 20 years, 4 months, and 2 days. Busch would win later that year at Phoenix. In 2006, Kyle won once and qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, ultimately finishing tenth in points. In 2007, Busch grabbed a win at the Food City 500, the inaugural race for the Car of Tomorrow. On June 13, 2007 Hendrick announced that Kyle Busch would not return to drive the #5 car in 2008. On September 4, 2007 it was announced that Casey Mears would drive the #5 in 2008.

On June 22, 2008 ESPN.com reported that Mark Martin would leave Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to replace Casey Mears in the #5 car for the 2009 season.[4] On Friday, July 4 at Daytona International Raceway, Hendrick and Mark Martin announced that Martin had agreed to a two-year contract in the #5 car.[5]

Mark Martin scored his first career win with Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix on April 18, 2009. He became the third oldest winner and fourth driver over the age of 50 to win a Sprint Cup Series race.[6] The win was also the 36th victory and 400th top 10 of Martin's career. On September 18, 2009 Hendrick announced that Martin had extended his contract through the 2011 season and will race full-time with GoDaddy.com as a primary sponsor.[7]

Beginning in 2011, Lance McGrew will be the crew chief of the #5 team, taking over from Gustafson.[8] Jimmie Johnson will use the #5 instead of his regular #48 for All-Star XXVII only [9]

Kasey Kahne will drive the #5 car full-time beginning in the 2012 season. He will be sponsored by Farmers Insurance Group for 22 races[10]

Car #5 career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
1984 #5 Geoff Bodine 30 3 3 7 14 9
1985 #5 Geoff Bodine 28 0 3 10 14 5
1986 #5 Geoff Bodine 29 2 8 10 15 8
1987 #5 Geoff Bodine 29 0 2 3 10 13
1988 #5 Geoff Bodine 29 1 3 10 16 6
1989 #5 Geoff Bodine 29 1 3 9 11 9
1990 #5 Ricky Rudd 29 1 2 8 15 7
1991 #5 Ricky Rudd 29 1 1 9 17 2
1992 #5 Ricky Rudd 29 1 1 9 18 7
1993 #5 Ricky Rudd 30 1 0 9 14 10
1994 #5 Terry Labonte 31 3 0 6 14 7
1995 #5 Terry Labonte 31 3 1 14 17 6
1996 #5 Terry Labonte 31 2 4 21 24 1
1997 #5 Terry Labonte 32 1 0 8 20 6
1998 #5 Terry Labonte 33 1 0 5 15 9
1999 #5 Terry Labonte 34 1 0 1 7 12
2000 #5 Terry Labonte 32 0 1 3 6 17
2000 #5 Todd Bodine 1 0 0 0 0 49
2000 #5 Ron Hornaday, Jr. 1 0 0 0 0 61
2001 #5 Terry Labonte 36 0 0 1 3 23
2002 #5 Terry Labonte 36 0 0 1 4 24
2003 #5 Terry Labonte 36 1 1 4 9 10
2004 #5 Terry Labonte 36 0 0 0 6 26
2005 #5 Kyle Busch 36 2 1 9 13 20
2006 #5 Kyle Busch 36 1 1 10 18 10
2007 #5 Kyle Busch 36 1 0 11 20 5
2008 #5 Casey Mears 36 0 0 1 6 20
2009 #5 Mark Martin 36 5 7 14 21 2
2010 #5 Mark Martin 36 0 1 7 11 13
2011 #5 Jimmie Johnson (Sprint All Star race) 1 0 0 1 1 n\a
2011 #5 Mark Martin 36 0 2 1 10 20
Totals 879 32 46 207 378

[11]

Car #17 history

1989 #17 Tide Chevy Lumina.

The #17 car at Hendrick Motorsports came about when Darrell Waltrip left Junior Johnson's team following the 1986 season in order to end his relationship with Budweiser. Waltrip chose to join Hendrick Motorsports with Tide as his sponsor and 17 as his car number. The team stayed mostly constant for all of its existence. Waltrip finally won the Daytona 500 in 1989, a race that had eluded him for so many years. At the end of the 1990 season, Waltrip decided he wanted to start his own team, so he left, taking the #17 with him. The Tide sponsorship moved to the flagship #5 team with Ricky Rudd as the driver and remained there until the end of the 1993 season.

Car #17 career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
1987 #17 Darrell Waltrip 29 1 0 6 16 4
1988 #17 Darrell Waltrip 29 2 2 10 14 7
1989 #17 Darrell Waltrip 29 6 0 14 18 4
1990 #17 Darrell Waltrip 23 0 0 5 12 20
1990 #17 Jimmy Horton 2 0 0 0 0 36
1990 #17 Greg Sacks 3 0 0 1 1 32
1990 #17 Sarel van der Merwe 1 0 0 0 0 78
Totals 116 9 2 36 61

[11]

Car #24 history

2008 #24 Dupont Impala.

During its entire history, the #24 car has been driven by Jeff Gordon and has been sponsored by DuPont. Gordon debuted in the 1992 Hooters 500, qualifying twenty-first and finishing thirty-first following a crash. Almost symbolically, that race was the last for seven-time champion Richard Petty. The team went full-time in 1993 with crew chief Ray Evernham. Gordon won his Twin 125 qualifying race at Daytona and finished fifth in the Daytona 500. He finished fourteenth in points and took home rookie of the year honors. In 1994, Gordon won his first career race at the Coca-Cola 600 and also won the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Gordon improved to eighth in the points that year. The following year, Gordon would go on to win the 1995 Winston Cup championship. He finished runner-up to teammate Terry Labonte for the 1996 championship.

The rainbow paint scheme in 1997.

Gordon won back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998 and also tied Richard Petty's modern era record for most victories in a season with thirteen. Gordon won the 1999 Daytona 500, but the team struggled with consistency that year. Crew chief Ray Evernham announced he was leaving the team to help with Dodge's return to NASCAR that September. He was replaced by Brian Whitesell, who guided Gordon to wins in the first two races after Evernham's departure. At the end of the season, Gordon signed a lifetime contract with the team that gave him part ownership.

In 2000, Whitesell moved to a new position within the organization and was replaced by Robbie Loomis. Gordon picked up his fiftieth career victory at Talladega but finished ninth in points. He bounced back in 2001, winning his fourth championship. In 2002, Gordon became car owner for Jimmie Johnson and filed for divorce from his first wife Brooke. He finished fourth in points in 2003. In 2004, Gordon finished third in the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup. After winning three of the first nine races in 2005, his season fell into a downward spiral. Gordon finished eleventh in points that year, which was the first time since his rookie season that he finished outside the top ten in points. 2006 was Gordon's comeback year. With the help of new crew chief Steve Letarte, Jeff would rebound to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup and finish sixth in points. In 2007, despite winning six races and scoring a modern era record thirty top 10s, Gordon wound up finishing second in points to teammate Jimmie Johnson.

In 2008 Gordon returned to the Chase, but he failed to win a race against Dale Earnhardt Jr. his fellow teammate for the first time since his rookie year. Despite that statistic, he managed to finish seventh in the season points standings.

At the end of the 2008 season, Gordon unveiled on The Today Show his new Firestorm paint scheme for 2009 and beyond. Gordon also broke a 47 race winless drought on April 4, 2009 at Texas.

Beginning in 2011, Alan Gustafson became the crew chief of the #24 team. Gordon's primary sponsor changed to AARP and Gordon partnering to form the "Drive to End Hunger" initiative. The deal will last for 22 races over the next two years.[8] The new combination saw a resurgence for Gordon, as he won at Phoenix, Pocono, and Atlanta and finished 8th in points.

Car #24 career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
1992 #24 Jeff Gordon 1 0 0 0 0 79
1993 #24 Jeff Gordon 30 0 1 7 11 14
1994 #24 Jeff Gordon 31 2 1 7 14 8
1995 #24 Jeff Gordon 31 7 8 17 23 1
1996 #24 Jeff Gordon 31 10 5 21 24 2
1997 #24 Jeff Gordon 32 10 1 22 23 1
1998 #24 Jeff Gordon 33 13 7 26 28 1
1999 #24 Jeff Gordon 34 7 7 18 21 6
2000 #24 Jeff Gordon 34 3 3 11 22 9
2001 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 6 6 18 24 1
2002 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 3 3 13 20 4
2003 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 3 4 15 20 4
2004 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 5 6 16 25 3
2005 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 4 2 8 14 11
2006 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 2 2 14 18 6
2007 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 6 7 21 30 2
2008 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 0 4 13 19 7
2009 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 1 1 16 25 3
2010 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 0 1 11 17 9
2011 #24 Jeff Gordon 36 3 1 13 18 8
Totals 653 85 70 287 396

[12]

Car #25 history

The current #25 car debuted in 2003 as the #60 at the Pepsi 400 with sponsor Haas Automation and driver David Green. The car was originally formed as a partnership with Gene Haas, but the team evolved into Hendrick's R & D team, Haas CNC Racing. Green ran one additional race that year and Brian Vickers ran the #60 at the fall Charlotte race.

Kyle Busch took over the car the following season, which had been rebranded as the #84 Carquest Chevy. He made his debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and made five more starts that year with a best finish of twenty-fourth at California.

In 2005, Terry Labonte took over the car, which had been changed to the #44, his first number, and Kyle Busch moved to the #5. Sponsored by Kellogg's and Pizza Hut, Labonte drove the car in a limited schedule over the next two years before retiring. Hendrick did not run a fifth car until 2008, when they fielded the #25 Go Daddy Chevrolet for Brad Keselowski for a pair of races. Making his Sprint Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway in the 2008 Dickies 500, Brad Keselowski started 37th and finished 19th in the #25 Chevrolet. This car is classified as a research and development car (or R&D car). Brad finished 13th in his last start in this car in the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway. He then left for Penske Racing, where he raced most of the remainder of the season in the #12 Dodge he took over full time at the start of the 2010 season. The number will return for 2011, being driven by Mark Martin at All-Star XXVII for a special promotion with Farmers Insurance Group.

On May 29, 2011 at the Sprint All Star race the Hendrick Motorsports #25 driven by Mark Martin finished 15th after starting 19th in the race.

Car #25 career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
2003 #60 David Green 2 0 0 0 0 60
2003 #60 Brian Vickers 1 0 0 0 0 49
2004 #84 Kyle Busch 6 0 0 0 0 52
2005 #44 Terry Labonte 9 0 0 0 0 40
2006 #44 Terry Labonte 10 0 0 0 0 41
2007 #25 Casey Mears 36 1 1 5 11 15
2008 #25 Brad Keselowski 2 0 0 0 0 57
2009 #25 Brad Keselowski 7 0 0 0 1 38
2011 #25 Mark Martin 1 0 0 0 0 n\a
Totals 103 1 1 5 12

[11]

Car #48 history

2008 #48 Lowe's Impala.

The current #48 car that the 5 time champion (Johnson) races was originally the #58 Racing for a Reason Chevrolet. The sponsor is a leukemia marrow sponsor founded by Rick Hendrick. The car was a safety car for Jeff Gordon to clinch his first championship. The 58 was driven by Jeff Purvis. Jeff had to finish 41st or better in the 42 car field. Jeff clinched the championship by staying out on green flag pit stops. Purvis came in 26th place. The #58 would not return until 2001 as the #48 car.

The current #48 car, co-owned by Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick, began competing in 2001 when Hendrick signed Jimmie Johnson, a second-year Busch Series driver for Herzog-Jackson Motorsports. Johnson made his debut at the fall Charlotte race, qualifying fifteenth and finishing thirty-ninth after crashing out. Johnson competed in two other races that year before moving to the Cup circuit full-time in 2002. The #48 team was given all of the #24 team's old cars, while the #24 built all new cars for the 2002 season. He won three races and finished runner-up to Ryan Newman in the rookie battle. During his first season, Johnson became the first rookie to ever lead the points standings. He Finished fifth in points in 2002. He won three more races in 2003 and finished Second in points.

Johnson led much of the 2004 season's points but suffered bad luck before the Chase for the Nextel Cup began, falling to second behind Jeff Gordon. After falling as far as ninth in points during the Chase, he rebounded with four wins in five races. Despite this, Johnson would lose the championship by only eight points to Kurt Busch in the closest final championship margin in Cup history.

Johnson led the points for much of the 2005 season, but lost the points lead to Tony Stewart after the Brickyard 400 when he suffered a hard crash. He won four races and ultimately finished fifth in points that year. On February 19, 2006, Johnson won his first Daytona 500 while crew chief Chad Knaus was serving a four-race suspension for rules infractions.[13] Johnson would go on to win the All-Star Challenge, Brickyard 400, and the 2006 Nextel Cup championship.

Johnson also won the 2007 Nextel Cup championship in a season that Hendrick Motorsports won eighteen of thirty-six races. Johnson won a staggering 10 races, including taking four in a row during the Chase for the Cup.

In 2008, Jimmie tied Cale Yarborough's record by winning his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series title. In 2009 Jimmie Johnson won 7 races, had 16 top fives, and 24 top tens. He went on to win his fourth consecutive championship. He is the only driver in NASCAR History to ever win four cup championships in a row. In 2010 he beat that record by winning a fifth championship in a row. He was in second at the start of the race. This is the first time since 2005, that he had to run a final race with him not in the lead of the points.

Car #48 career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
2001 #48 Jimmie Johnson 3 0 0 0 0 52
2002 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 3 4 6 21 5
2003 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 3 2 14 20 2
2004 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 8 1 20 23 2
2005 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 4 1 13 22 5
2006 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 5 1 13 24 1
2007 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 10 4 20 24 1
2008 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 7 6 15 22 1
2009 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 7 4 16 24 1
2010 #48 Jimmie Johnson 36 6 2 17 23 1
Totals 327 53 25 134 203

[14]

Car #88 history

2008 #88 AMP Impala, driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Car #88 was owned for many years by Rick Hendrick's father, the late Joe "Papa" Hendrick. It debuted as the #25 in 1986 with Folgers sponsorship and Tim Richmond driving. Richmond, who was teamed with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde, won seven times that year and finished third in points. He missed the beginning of the 1987 season due to AIDS, while publicly saying he was suffering from pneumonia. Benny Parsons and Darrell Waltrip were hired to drive Hendrick's second and third cars at this time. Richmond returned midway through the season and won twice, but he was not going to make a quick recovery.

1997 #25 Budweiser Chevrolet, driven by Ricky Craven.

In 1988, Ken Schrader took over the ride. He won two pole positions, won the Talladega DieHard 500, and finished fifth in points. He won four more poles in 1989 and picked up a victory in the fall race at Charlotte. Kodiak replaced Folgers as the sponsor of the #25 for the 1990 season. Schrader failed to win a race in 1990, but he won the Daytona 500 pole for the third year in a row. He won two more races in 1991 and finished ninth in points. Schrader did not win again, but he finished a career-best fourth in points in 1994. After that year, Budweiser replaced Kodiak as the sponsor. Schrader left the team after the 1996 season and was replaced by Ricky Craven.

2007 #25 National Guard Chevrolet, driven by Casey Mears.

Craven helped Hendrick complete a 1–2–3 finish in the 1997 Daytona 500. After suffering a concussion at Texas, he missed two races. Jack Sprague and Todd Bodine filled in for him during the injury. The other highlight for Craven during the 1997 campaign was a Winston Open win. Craven ultimately finished nineteenth in points. In 1998, the car number was changed from #25 to #50 in honor of NASCAR's 50th anniversary. Shortly after the season started, Craven was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, and he was forced to sit out several races while Randy LaJoie and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. filled in. Craven returned to driving at his home track, New Hampshire, and won the pole for the event. Despite his effort, Craven was unable to produce strong results and was replaced by Dallenbach on a full-time basis.

Dallenbach brought the renumbered #25 to an eighteenth place finish in points 1999, but both he and Budweiser departed at the end of the season. Hendrick hired Melling Racing's Jerry Nadeau to drive the car for 2000 and obtained sponsorship from home improvement television personality Michael Holigan. Nadeau had a solid first year with Hendrick, finishing twentieth in points and winning the season-ending race at Atlanta. The team returned for 2001 with the United Auto Workers and Delphi Auto Parts as co-sponsors, and Nadeau finished a career high seventeenth in points. After eleven races in 2002, Nadeau was released and eventually was replaced by Joe Nemechek. Nemechek won at Richmond in 2003 before leaving for MB2/MBV Motorsports at the end of the year.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. stands with Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard, and team owner Rick Hendrick.

After winning the Busch Series championship in 2003, Brian Vickers took over the #25 in 2004 with sponsorship from GMAC and Ditech. With a third place finish in the rookie points battle, his first season was somewhat of a disappointment. 2004 was a sad year for Brian Vickers and the #25 team. "Papa" Joe, long-time owner of the #25 car, died in July, while close friend Ricky Hendrick perished in a plane crash that also took the lives of nine others in October. Vickers improved to seventeenth in points in 2005. Midway through the 2006 campaign, Vickers announced he would leave Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season. On June 9, 2006 Hendrick Motorsports announced that Casey Mears of Chip Ganassi Racing would take the spot of Vickers in 2007. Vickers collected his first career win later that season at Talladega.

In 2007, the Army National Guard joined forces with longtime Hendrick Motorsports partner GMAC to sponsor the #25 Chevrolet driven by Casey Mears. Mears piloted the #25 to his first career win at Lowe's in the Coca Cola 600.

On June 13, 2007, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced he would join Hendrick Motorsports for the 2008 season. On September 14, 2007 it was announced that he would drive the #88 car. The #88 replaced the #25, and AMP Energy and the National Guard stepped up to sponsor the car. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury, Jr., also made the move to Hendrick Motorsports. However, this partnership only lasted until April, 2009 when Tony Eury, Jr. was replaced by Lance McGrew, a technical advisor and part-time crew chief with HMS for the #25 car.

At the start of the 2011 season, Steve Letarte moved over from the #24 team and became the crew chief of the #88 team.[8] For 2012, PepsiCo decided to replace the struggling AMP Energy brand with the Diet Mountain Dew brand.

Car #88 career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
1986 #25 Tim Richmond 29 7 8 13 17 3
1987 #25 Tim Richmond 8 2 1 3 4 36
1987 #25 Rick Hendrick 1 0 0 0 0 107
1988 #25 Ken Schrader 29 1 2 4 17 5
1989 #25 Ken Schrader 29 1 4 10 14 5
1990 #25 Ken Schrader 29 0 3 7 14 10
1991 #25 Ken Schrader 29 2 0 10 18 9
1992 #25 Ken Schrader 29 0 1 4 11 17
1993 #25 Ken Schrader 30 0 6 9 15 9
1994 #25 Ken Schrader 31 0 0 9 18 4
1995 #25 Ken Schrader 31 0 1 2 10 17
1996 #25 Ken Schrader 31 0 0 3 10 12
1997 #25 Ricky Craven 30 0 0 4 7 19
1997 #25 Todd Bodine 1 0 0 0 0 52
1997 #25 Jack Sprague 1 0 0 0 0 68
1998 #50 Ricky Craven 8 0 1 0 1 46
1998 #50 Wally Dallenbach, Jr. 16 0 0 0 3 38
1998 #50 Randy LaJoie 9 0 0 1 3 49
1999 #25 Wally Dallenbach, Jr. 34 0 0 1 6 18
2000 #25 Jerry Nadeau 34 1 0 3 5 20
2001 #25 Jerry Nadeau 36 0 0 4 10 17
2002 #25 Jerry Nadeau 11 0 0 0 1 37
2002 #25 Joe Nemechek 25 0 0 3 3 34
2003 #25 Joe Nemechek 32 1 0 2 5 25
2003 #25 Brian Vickers 4 0 0 0 0 49
2004 #25 Brian Vickers 36 0 2 0 4 25
2005 #25 Brian Vickers 36 0 1 5 10 17
2006 #25 Brian Vickers 36 1 1 5 9 15
2007 #25 Casey Mears 36 1 1 5 10 15
2008 #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 36 1 1 10 16 12
2009 #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 36 0 0 2 5 26
2010 #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 36 0 1 3 8 21
2011 #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 36 0 4 6 12 7
Totals 788 18 36 127 255

[11]

Other car history

Benny Parsons drove for Hendrick in 1987 as a replacement for Tim Richmond. Hendrick kept the #25 available for Richmond to run a limited schedule, so Parsons drove the #35 car instead.

The 1993 Spring Talladega race, Buddy Baker attempted the race in a #46 DuPont Chevy but he failed to qualify. Also IndyCar driverAl Unser Jr. made a race in the 46 car.

Other car career statistics

Year Car Number Driver Races Wins Poles Top 5s Top 10s Season Rank
1985 #1 Dick Brooks 1 0 0 0 1 53
1986 #2 Brett Bodine 1 0 0 0 0 92
1987 #51 Jim Fitzgerald 1 0 0 0 0 79
1987 #35 Benny Parsons 29 0 0 6 9 16
1988 #18 Rick Hendrick 1 0 0 0 0 63
1988 #47 Rob Moroso 1 0 0 0 0 54
1989 #51 Bobby Hamilton 1 0 0 0 0 89
1989 #18 Tommy Kendall 1 0 0 0 0 N/A
1989 #42 Kyle Petty 1 0 0 0 0 30
1989 #46 Greg Sacks 1 0 0 0 0 32
1990 #18 Stan Barrett 1 0 0 0 0 74
1990 #18 Greg Sacks 12 0 1 1 3 32
1990 #46 Greg Sacks 1 0 0 0 0 32
1990 #68 Hut Stricklin 1 0 0 0 0 28
1990 #51 Hut Stricklin 1 0 0 0 0 28
1993 #46 Al Unser, Jr. 1 0 0 0 0 81
1995 #58 Jeff Purvis 1 0 0 0 0 47
Totals 56 0 1 7 13

[11]

Team results in Sprint Cup Series

Wins

1984

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

2010

2011

All-time statistics

  • Starts: 2732
  • Wins: 241
  • Poles: 227
  • Top 5s: 750
  • Top 10s: 1229
  • Titles: 10

Nationwide Series

JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports officially combined NASCAR Nationwide Series operations following the conclusion of the 2007 racing season. The No. 5 Chevrolets were fielded full-time under the JR Motorsports banner in 2008. The team will be fielded by JR Motorsports in parnership with Hendrick Motorsports.[15] The partnership will campaign two full-time race cars under the JR Motorsports banner that utilize Hendrick Motorsports engines, chassis and vehicle engineering support. Rick Hendrick will be listed as car owner of the No. 5 team and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be car owner of the No. 88. JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports will also collaborate in the areas of partnership development, sponsorship services, marketing and media relations. Jayski stated that JR Motorsports will field a third car, the #83, driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr.[16]

Car #5 history

The #5 car was purchased by Hendrick Motorsports as the #24 from JG Motorsports and began competing in 2001 as the Hendrick #24 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet with Ricky Hendrick driving. Hendrick made three starts in the car, his best finish coming at Kentucky Speedway, when he finished 15th. He and truck series teammate Jack Sprague moved up to the Busch Series full-time. Hendrick drove the #5 car but was injured early in a wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ron Hornaday would take over for him for the next six races, before Hendrick returned at Richmond. Towards the end of the season, Hendrick suddenly announced his retirement from driving, but would remain on board as a team co-owner until his 2004 death. David Green and Ward Burton finished out the season for the team.

The #5 car's paint scheme for 2002 & 2003.

Brian Vickers was hired to drive the 5 car in 2003. He won three races and the Busch Series championship. When he moved up to NEXTEL Cup, Kyle Busch was hired as the team's new driver. In his rookie year, he won five races and was runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in points. He moved up to Cup as well after the season, but he continued to drive the 5 part-time. Mexican driver Adrian Fernández drove the car in six races, finishing tenth at Mexico City, but did not have another top-ten finish that season. Hendrick development drivers Blake Feese, Boston Reid, and Kyle Krisiloff also drove the car, running a total of eighteen races with best finishes of twenty-third, seventeenth, and nineteenth, respectively. Busch and Jimmie Johnson ran the rest of the schedule with Busch winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He drove 30 races the in 2006, winning at Bristol and finishing seventh in points. He skipped the race at Memphis Motorsports Park, being replaced by Justin Labonte for that race.

In 2007, Busch and Mark Martin shared the #5 on a part-time basis. The car carried a number of different sponsors including Lowe's, Delphi, Spectrum, and Hendrick Autoguard. Kyle Busch drove the car to victory lane in the rain delayed Daytona, Richmond, and Kansas. In 2008, this team will be based out of the JR Motorsports shop, with Hendrick engines and chassis. Five drivers ran the car in 2008, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Casey Mears, Mark Martin and Landon Cassill,[17] as well as Martin Truex, Jr. and Ron Fellows in one-race deals. This car was sponsored by Delphi, the National Guard, and GoDaddy.com

In 2009, the #5 car would be reduced to a part-time schedule due to the lack of sponsorship. Fastenal, Unilever and GoDaddy.com would sponsor the car with Cassill, Truex Jr, Earnhardt Jr, Martin, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Scott Wimmer scheduled to drive the car. The car would continue to be based in the JR Motorsports' shop, alongside Brad Keselowski and the #88 car.

For 2010, this car would be driven by Kelly Bires under the JR Motorsports banner. In 2010 JR Motorsports would field the #7 GoDaddy.com Chevy for Danica Patrick retiring the #5. Dale Jr. will also run 4 additional races in the #7 and the #88 Hellmans Chevy in the Drive 4 COPD 300.

For 2011, the #88 car will be driven full-time by Aric Almirola.

Car #24 history

Casey Mears racing in the 2007 Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 24 car began racing in 2005 as the #57. The number came from the sponsorship of Heinz, and their 57 varieties. Brian Vickers debuted the car at Darlington with Pizza Hut/Ore-Ida sponsorship. He qualified second but finished forty-third after an early wreck. His best finish in the car came at Dover, where he finished fifth. Kyle Busch drove the car in an additional four races, finishing in the top-five once. Boston Reid also drove the car once at IRP, finishing 23rd. Vickers drove the car in eight races, not finishing any higher than 23rd. Adrian Fernandez drove at Mexico City and Watkins Glen, finishing twelfth and seventeenth, respectively. In 2006 Brian Vickers ran eight races and the #57 had a new part time sponsor in Mountain Dew with the full time sponsor remaining Ore-Ida for the other five races. Mountain Dew was the full time sponsor for three races in 2006 at Fontana, Darlington and Michigan with 9th, 12th, and 16th the finishes respectively. Vickers best finish in 2006 was a second at Daytona in July.

After Vickers' departure from Hendrick Motorsports, the team changed back to the 24 with Casey Mears and the U.S. National Guard coming on board for a limited schedule. Adrian Fernandez, and Landon Cassill also shared the ride. This team did not run in 2008.

Car #48 history

The 48 car made its debut in the Busch Series in 2004 at Lowe's, running a one-race deal with sponsorship from SpongeBob SquarePants. Jimmie Johnson drove it to a third place finish. He drove the car for five races in 2005, winning a pole at Lowe's. During 2006, he started 3 races, both Lowe's Races and the Ameriquest 300 At California.[18] His best finish was 7th in the first Lowe's race. Jimmie Johnson drove the 48 car in the 2007 Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the first of 3 Busch races of 2007 for Johnson. The #24 Busch Series team, did not run in 2008 as operations are consolidated with JR Motorsports.

Car #80 history

Hendrick Motorsports announced on January 19, 2009 that Tony Stewart would attempt to qualify the #80 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in the season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona.[19] The number 80 represents the number of affiliates in the Hendrick Automotive Group. Tony Stewart won the Daytona Nationwide Series race in the #80 car.

Camping World Truck Series

Truck #17 history

The 17 Camping World Truck Series (was Craftsman Truck Series) team made its debut in 2000 with Ricky Hendrick driving with GMAC/Quaker State sponsorship. He made six races that season and finished in the top-ten four times. In 2001, Hendrick won his only career Truck race at Kansas Speedway and finished sixth in points, runner-up to Travis Kvapil for Rookie of the Year honors. The team did not run after 2001.

Truck #24 history

The 24 truck debuted with the Truck Series in 1995 with Scott Lagasse Sr. driving and DuPont sponsoring. Lagasse posted two top-fives and finished ninth in the standings. The team also fielded the 25 Budweiser Chevrolet part-time with Hendrick Sr. and Roger Mears driving. Midway through the season, Jack Sprague came on board to finish out the season for the team, winning a pole at Phoenix International Raceway. In 1996, he moved to the 24 full-time with Quaker State sponsoring. He won five races and was second in the points. The following season, he won three times and clinched his first NASCAR championship.

The team lost the Quaker State sponsorship after 1997, but signed GMAC Financial as a sponsor after a one-race deal with Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce. He won an additional five races, but lost the championship by three points. In 1999, Sprague won the championship again but fell to fifth in 2000. In 2001, NetZero came on board as the team's sponsor, and Sprague won his third championship. After Sprague moved his ride to the Busch Series, Ron Hornaday drove the 24 in a one-race deal at Daytona, finishing twelfth. The team closed after that race to focus on its Busch Series efforts.

ARCA RE/MAX Series

In 2007, Hendrick Motorsports fielded the #87 for Landon Cassill in a couple races as a development package.

Plane crash

Main article: 2004 Martinsville plane crash
2004 #25 Ditech/GMAC Monte Carlo. The hood design pays tribute to the people killed in the October 2004 plane crash.

On October 24, 2004, ten people associated with Hendrick Motorsports lost their lives in a plane crash while en route from Concord, North Carolina, to a small airport near the Martinsville Speedway. The plane crashed in heavy fog into Bull Mountain, seven miles (11 km) from the Blue Ridge Airport in Stuart, Virginia, after a failed attempt to land.[20] Ten people aboard the Beechcraft King Air 200 died. Six were Hendrick family members and/or Hendrick Motorsports employees: John Hendrick, the owner's brother and president of Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports, Ricky Hendrick, a Hendrick Motorsports driver and its owner's son, Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John Hendrick's twin daughters, and Randy Dorton, chief engine builder. Also dead were the plane's pilots, Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison, Joe Jackson, director of the DuPont Motorsports program,[21] and Scott Lathram, who worked for Joe Gibbs Racing as a helicopter pilot.[22]

NASCAR officials learned of the crash during that day's Subway 500 race in Martinsville, Virginia; they withheld the information from drivers until the end of the race, which was won by Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson. For the rest of the 2004 season, all Hendrick Motorsports cars and the #0 Haas CNC Racing car featured pictures of the crash victims on the hood, accompanied by the phrase "Always in our hearts."

References

  1. ^ "Hendrick Motorsports Racing Team | The Calgary Chronicle Online". Calgarychronicle.com. 2009-05-24. http://calgarychronicle.com/?q=node/1091. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  2. ^ "Official Site of Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Racing & Team Store". Hendrickmotorsports.com. http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/hms_stats.asp. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  3. ^ "Official Site of Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Racing & Team Store". Hendrickmotorsports.com. http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/hendrick-motorsports-shops-museum-complex.asp. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  4. ^ "Sources: Martin to leave DEI, replace Mears in No. 5 – Racing — ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. 2008-06-23. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=3456369. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  5. ^ Dave Rodman (2008-07-04). "Martin signs two-year deal with Hendrick for the No. 5 – Jul 4, 2008". Nascar.Com. http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/07/04/mmartin.rhendrick.contract/index.html. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  6. ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site — NASCAR Sprint Cup News Page". Jayski.com. http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#old. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  7. ^ Nascar.Com (2009-09-18). "Martin signs through '11 and adding new sponsor — Sep 18, 2009". Nascar.Com. http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/09/18/mmartin.2010.sponsor/index.html. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  8. ^ a b c Sporting News Wire Service. "Hendrick swapping crew chiefs for three teams — Nov 23, 2010". Nascar.Com. http://www.nascar.com/news/101123/hendrick-crew-chief-swaps/index.html. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  9. ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/673946-keeping-up-with-the-johnsons-the-latest-news-surrounding-jimmie-johnson/entry/68103-jimmie-johnson-to-drive-the-number-5-car-in-the-sprint-all-star-race
  10. ^ "Official Site of Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Racing & Team Store". Hendrickmotorsports.com. 2010-04-14. http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/news_detail.asp?id=2702. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  11. ^ a b c d e "Rick Hendrick Owner Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. http://www.racing-reference.info/owner?id=hendrri01. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  12. ^ "Jeff Gordon Career Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. 1971-08-04. http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=gordoje01. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  13. ^ "Jimmie Johnson wins Daytona 500 without crew chief Knaus". Racewayreport.com. http://www.racewayreport.com/drivers/news/jjohnson.html. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  14. ^ "Jimmie Johnson Career Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. 1975-09-17. http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=johnsji01. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  15. ^ "Official Site of Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Racing & Team Store". Hendrickmotorsports.com. 2007-07-30. http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/news_detail.asp?id=1765. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  16. ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Paint Scheme Gallery – 2008 Nationwide Series Schemes". Jayski.com. http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2008/nationwide/83nationwide.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  17. ^ "Busch Series No. 5 driver lineup star-studded for '08". Sports.espn.go.com. 2007-09-21. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=3&id=3030424. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  18. ^ "Drivers : Jimmie Johnson". Nascar.Com. http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/jjohnson00/bg/data/2006/index.html. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  19. ^ "Tony Stewart to race at Daytona for Hendrick Motorsports". Hendrickmotorsports.com. 2009-01-19. http://www.hendrickmotorsports.com/news_detail.asp?id=2219. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  20. ^ NTSB Identification: IAD05MA006 from the National Transportation Safety Board website
  21. ^ DuPont statement: Joe Jackson, an October 25, 2004 Dupont press release via NASCAR.com
  22. ^ Stewart on Lathram: 'I got really close to him', an October 29, 2004 article from NASCAR.com

External links


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