HENDRICK PERFORMANCE - Key Persons
As his automotive business prospered, Hendrick was enjoying an equal amount of success in the realm of motor sports. In the late 1970s, he founded a drag-boat racing team that won three consecutive national championships and set a world record of 222.2 mph with the boat "Nitro Fever."
But Hendrick soon transitioned back into car racing, sponsoring and co-owning a limited number of NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series (now NASCAR Nationwide Series) entries, which included a 1983 victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. as driver.
In 1984, Hendrick founded All-Star Racing. That year, the fledgling outfit fielded a single NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup) team with five full-time employees and 5,000 square feet of leased workspace. With Geoff Bodine driving an entire 30-race campaign in the No. 5 Chevrolets, All-Star Racing finished ninth in championship points after earning three victories and three pole positions in its first season.
Rechristened Hendrick Motorsports in 1985, the organization today is headquartered on 140 acres of North Carolina property straddling Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties. The 430,000-square-foot facility houses complete engine- and chassis-building areas to support four full-time teams in NASCAR's top division - the Sprint Cup Series.
Job Titles:
- Heritage Center Supervisor
Job Titles:
- Retail Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Owner, Hendrick Motorsports -
Born July 12, 1949, in Warrenton, N.C., Joseph Riddick "Rick" Hendrick III was raised on his family's farm, a stone's throw from the small Virginia community of Palmer Springs. It was there, south of Richmond near the North Carolina border, where his father instilled the value of a hard day's work and a pure passion for the automobile.
Under the watchful eye of "Papa Joe," that love of cars led Hendrick into the world of auto racing. At age 14, he quickly made a name for himself by setting speed records at a local drag strip with a self-built 1931 Chevrolet. Two years later, the self-described "gearhead" won the Virginia division of the Chrysler-Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest, a competition for engine builders. He was just 16.