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Rick Hendrick Biography: The Dealer Who Built a NASCAR Powerhouse

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By the spring of 1984, Rick Hendrick’s new stock-car team was running short of sponsorship support. Its owner was questioning how much longer it could continue. On April 29, driver Geoff Bodine and crew chief Harry Hyde delivered a breakthrough: a NASCAR Cup Series victory at Martinsville Speedway.

It was the first Cup win for the organization that would become Hendrick Motorsports. The result helped a vulnerable team survive and laid the groundwork for a long run of victories and championships.

Racing was only one side of Hendrick’s career. Eight years before Martinsville, he had taken over a struggling Chevrolet dealership in South Carolina. Both enterprises grew as his life also brought a leukemia diagnosis, a federal mail-fraud conviction and pardon, and a plane crash that killed members of his family and racing organization.

A Quick Look at the Life of Rick Hendrick

Biography Summary

Joseph Riddick “Rick” Hendrick III is an American automobile dealer and founder of Hendrick Motorsports. Beginning with a Chevrolet dealership in 1976 and a NASCAR team in 1984, he built two major businesses. By the end of 2025, his racing organization had won 15 Cup Series championships; his dealership group had grown into a large multistate automotive retailer.

Profile

Full name: Joseph Riddick “Rick” Hendrick III

Born: July 12, 1949

Birthplace: Warrenton, North Carolina, United States

Hometown: Palmer Springs, Virginia

Known for: Automotive retailing and ownership of Hendrick Motorsports

Major organizations: Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motorsports

Major roles: Chairman and CEO of Hendrick Automotive Group; founder and owner of Hendrick Motorsports

Selected honors: International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2013); Automotive News lifetime achievement award (2014); NASCAR Hall of Fame, class of 2017

From a Virginia Tobacco Farm to the Automobile Business

Hendrick was born in Warrenton, North Carolina, on July 12, 1949, and grew up near Palmer Springs, Virginia, where his family operated a tobacco farm. His interest in cars was established early. According to his official team biography, he restored a 1931 Chevrolet at about age 14 with help from his father, Joe.

He also spent time at local short tracks, where modified-racing veteran Ray Hendrick and his crew were among his early contacts. Despite the shared surname, the two men were not related.

After high school, Hendrick entered a cooperative work-study program connected with North Carolina State University and Westinghouse Electric in Raleigh, studying tool-and-die work. He later joined established dealer Mike Leith in operating a small used-car lot. When Hendrick was about 23, Leith made him general sales manager of a new-car import business.

The 1976 Chevrolet Dealership That Started a Larger Business

The opportunity to run a struggling Chevrolet franchise took Hendrick to Bennettsville, South Carolina. He and his wife, Linda, sold assets and relocated. On September 14, 1976, at age 26, he began operating the dealership. Hendrick Automotive Group describes him as the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States at the time.

Hendrick Automotive Group says his leadership turned the poor-performing store into the region’s most profitable dealership. The claim comes from the company itself, but the next steps in its expansion are clear: more dealerships and more manufacturers.

The company’s chronology places the acquisition of City Chevrolet in Charlotte in 1977 and the opening of a freestanding Honda dealership in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1979. By 1983, the automotive business had expanded into California, with further dealerships and brands added in subsequent years.

What began with the Bennettsville store grew into a large, privately held, multistate retailer. In its 2026 histories, Hendrick Automotive Group reported more than 100 dealerships and more than 11,000 employees.

All-Star Racing and the Win That Kept the Team Going

While the dealership network was growing, Hendrick entered NASCAR team ownership. The operation he founded in 1984 began as All-Star Racing, with Geoff Bodine driving the No. 5 Chevrolet and veteran crew chief Harry Hyde overseeing the car.

Low sponsorship funding threatened the team’s future almost immediately. Hendrick later recalled warning Hyde that they could not go much beyond Darlington. Hyde pressed for another chance at Martinsville, where Bodine knew the track.

Bodine won at Martinsville on April 29, 1984. Hendrick recalled that he and Linda were away from the track when his mother telephoned with the news. According to the team, sponsorship backing improved after the victory, allowing the new operation to keep going.

The organization, later named Hendrick Motorsports, added established drivers including Darrell Waltrip during the 1980s. Hendrick also had some direct racing experience: beyond drag racing and championship-winning drag boats, he made four starts as a driver across NASCAR’s national series from 1987 through 1995. His principal role in stock-car racing, however, was as a team owner.

Jeff Gordon, Ray Evernham and the First Cup Championships

A significant change came with Hendrick’s recruitment of Jeff Gordon in 1992. Gordon and crew chief Ray Evernham began their Cup partnership at the season finale that year, then entered full-time competition in 1993. The driver-crew-chief partnership became a defining part of the organization’s next phase.

Gordon won Hendrick Motorsports’ first Cup Series championship in 1995. Terry Labonte followed with the team’s second title in 1996, while Gordon and his team added championships in 1997, 1998 and 2001. Evernham worked with Gordon for the 1995, 1997 and 1998 titles.

The first championships marked a new level of success for Hendrick Motorsports. They also depended on the work of Gordon, Evernham, other drivers, mechanics and managers—not just the decisions of the team owner.

Leukemia and a Federal Mail-Fraud Case

In November 1996, as Hendrick’s teams were competing at championship level, he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia. A separate federal case was developing at the same time. In December 1996, a grand jury indicted him as part of a wider investigation into payments and benefits involving American Honda executives.

The indictment included allegations of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering. On August 14, 1997, Hendrick pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud involving a mailed payment to a Honda executive. The plea did not establish guilt on all the other charges originally alleged.

On December 31, 1997, a federal judge sentenced him to three years of probation, 12 months of home confinement and a $250,000 fine. The confinement requirements and his leukemia treatment limited his presence in the dealership and racing operations. Hendrick later acknowledged providing valuable benefits to Honda executives but maintained that he had received nothing in return; that was his stated position, not a reversal of the guilty plea.

Hendrick underwent prolonged medication and injection treatments for leukemia. In December 1999, his treating doctor, Steven Limentani, reported that the disease was in full remission and that intensive treatment could stop. Limentani stopped short of calling Hendrick cured.

President Bill Clinton granted Hendrick a presidential pardon in December 2000. The U.S. Department of Justice lists the 1997 mail-fraud offense in its official pardon record. The pardon did not amount to a judicial finding of innocence.

Through his illness and the criminal case, Hendrick Motorsports continued to compete at the championship level, even while his involvement in daily operations was limited.

The 2004 Plane Crash and Its Aftermath

On October 24, 2004, a Beech King Air 200 operated by Hendrick Motorsports crashed into mountainous terrain near Stuart, Virginia, during an instrument approach toward the Martinsville area. All ten people aboard, including two crew members and eight passengers, died. Rick Hendrick was not on the aircraft.

Among the victims were Hendrick’s son Ricky, his brother John, and John’s twin daughters Jennifer and Kimberly, who were Rick Hendrick’s nieces. Team employees and associates were also among those killed. On the same day, Jimmie Johnson won the Cup race at Martinsville, while members of the organization were learning what had happened.

In a report adopted in February 2006, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was the flight crew’s failure to follow the correct instrument approach and missed-approach procedures. The board cited the failure to use all available navigational aids as a contributing factor. Its findings did not assign personal responsibility for the crash to Rick Hendrick.

The team continued operating in the years that followed. Two decades later, Rick and Linda Hendrick joined family members and employees at an October 2024 remembrance on the team’s campus. Speaking at the memorial, Hendrick said, “We will never, ever forget these souls.”

A Championship Run Across Several Racing Eras

Jimmie Johnson’s period at Hendrick Motorsports brought another sequence of milestones. Johnson won five consecutive Cup Series championships from 2006 through 2010 and later added titles in 2013 and 2016, bringing his total to seven. Those seasons involved Johnson’s driving and the broader work of his crews and management under Hendrick’s ownership.

The championship record extended into another generation. Chase Elliott won the Cup title in 2020, and Kyle Larson won in 2021. On May 30, 2021, Larson’s victory in the Coca-Cola 600 was Hendrick Motorsports’ 269th Cup win, moving the organization ahead of Petty Enterprises on the all-time Cup team-owner victory list.

The team’s reach also extended beyond its usual NASCAR competition. In June 2023, a specially adapted Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet completed the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the experimental Garage 56 entry, in a project involving NASCAR, Chevrolet, Goodyear and other collaborators. Completion was the achievement: the entry did not win the race or a class championship.

William Byron delivered Hendrick Motorsports’ 300th Cup victory at Texas on September 24, 2023. Kyle Larson then claimed his second Cup championship in 2025, the organization’s 15th. At the Phoenix season finale, Larson finished third but secured the title under that year’s playoff format. Ryan Blaney won the race.

Those 15 championships came from five drivers—Gordon, Labonte, Johnson, Elliott and Larson—across several generations of NASCAR competition.

Marrow Donation, Recognition and Family Philanthropy

After his leukemia diagnosis, Hendrick organized the Hendrick Marrow Program in 1997 to support blood stem-cell and marrow donor needs. The automotive group reports that the program raised more than $15 million between 1997 and 2016. In May 2016, Rick and Linda Hendrick established the Hendrick Family Foundation, incorporating earlier philanthropic activities.

His work in racing and automobile retailing also received formal recognition. He entered the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2013, received an Automotive News lifetime achievement award in 2014 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on January 20, 2017.

During his NASCAR Hall of Fame induction remarks, Hendrick credited the employees, drivers and others involved in the team’s history. The ceremony also included a remembrance of his son Ricky, placing the organization’s achievements alongside the people it had lost.

Two Businesses Still Evolving in 2026

On September 14, 2026, Hendrick Automotive Group marked 50 years since the Bennettsville dealership opened under his leadership. That July, the company had announced its acquisition of Foreign Cars Italia, adding marques such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Bentley, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, as well as another Porsche franchise.

In motorsports, Hendrick remained the team’s owner, with former champion Jeff Gordon serving as vice chairman in a senior management role. During the 2026 season the organization’s Cup drivers were Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman. A February 2026 announcement confirmed further contract extensions for Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels, along with continued HendrickCars.com sponsorship.

The team was also making plans beyond the current lineup. In August 2026, it announced a deal for Connor Zilisch to take over the No. 48 car in the 2028 season, after Bowman’s planned retirement from full-time racing following 2027. As of October 23, 2026, that driver change remained a future arrangement, not an accomplished switch.

The Continuing Shape of Hendrick’s Career

Rick Hendrick’s two main businesses began with different challenges: a struggling Chevrolet dealership in 1976 and a NASCAR team short of funding in 1984. The first developed into a multistate retailer. The second grew into a championship organization built around drivers, crews and management working under his ownership.

His career has also included a mail-fraud conviction and later pardon, treatment for leukemia and the loss of close relatives and colleagues in the 2004 crash. As of October 2026, Hendrick continued to lead both businesses. The dealerships were expanding, and his racing organization was preparing for another change of drivers.

Timeline

These milestones trace Rick Hendrick’s life, automotive businesses and motorsports organization.

Timeline.

July 12, 1949

Born in Warrenton, North Carolina; later raised near Palmer Springs, Virginia.

Teenage years

Restores a 1931 Chevrolet with his father’s help and follows short-track racing.

Early 1970s

Runs a used-car lot with Mike Leith and moves into new-car import sales management.

September 14, 1976

Takes over the Bennettsville, South Carolina, Chevrolet dealership.

1977–1979

The automotive business acquires City Chevrolet in Charlotte and opens a Honda dealership in Columbia, South Carolina.

1984

Founds All-Star Racing. Geoff Bodine delivers its first Cup victory at Martinsville on April 29.

1992–1995

Recruits Jeff Gordon in 1992; Gordon and Ray Evernham begin full-time Cup competition in 1993. Gordon wins the organization’s first Cup title in 1995.

1996–1997

Hendrick is diagnosed with leukemia in November 1996 and indicted in December. He pleads guilty to mail fraud in August 1997 and is sentenced that December. The Hendrick Marrow Program is established in 1997.

1999–2000

His doctor reports leukemia in full remission in December 1999. President Bill Clinton grants him a pardon in December 2000.

October 24, 2004

A Hendrick Motorsports aircraft crashes in Virginia, killing ten people, including his son, brother and two nieces.

2006–2010

Jimmie Johnson wins five consecutive NASCAR Cup championships with Hendrick Motorsports.

2013–2017

Receives motorsports and automotive industry honors, helps establish the Hendrick Family Foundation with Linda in 2016, and enters the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January 2017.

2020–2021

Chase Elliott wins the 2020 Cup title. Kyle Larson’s May 2021 victory takes Hendrick Motorsports past Petty Enterprises in all-time Cup wins; Larson also wins the 2021 championship.

2023

The Garage 56 Chevrolet finishes the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. William Byron delivers the team’s 300th Cup victory in September.

2025

Larson wins the Cup championship, the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports.

2026

The automotive group acquires Foreign Cars Italia and marks its 50th anniversary. Hendrick Motorsports announces a driver agreement for Connor Zilisch beginning in 2028.

FAQs

Did Rick Hendrick ever race, or was he only a team owner?

Rick Hendrick raced drag boats and made four starts as a driver across NASCAR’s national series between 1987 and 1995. His far more extensive record in NASCAR comes from team ownership.

What saved Hendrick Motorsports during its first season?

Geoff Bodine’s April 29, 1984 Cup victory at Martinsville helped keep the new team operating. All-Star Racing, the organization’s original name, had been short of sponsorship funding, and support improved after that first win.

Was Rick Hendrick convicted in the Honda case and later pardoned?

Yes. Hendrick pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud in August 1997 and was sentenced that December to probation, home confinement and a fine. President Bill Clinton pardoned him in December 2000. The original indictment’s other allegations were not all established by the mail-fraud guilty plea.

Was Rick Hendrick on the plane that crashed in 2004?

No. Rick Hendrick was not aboard the Hendrick Motorsports aircraft that crashed in Virginia on October 24, 2004. The ten people killed included his son Ricky, his brother John, his nieces Jennifer and Kimberly, and six other people.

How did Kyle Larson win the 2025 Cup championship without winning the final race?

Kyle Larson finished third in the November 2025 Phoenix finale and secured the NASCAR Cup Series championship under that season’s playoff format. Ryan Blaney won the race; Larson won the championship, the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports.

Is Connor Zilisch already a Hendrick Motorsports Cup driver in 2026?

No. As of October 23, 2026, the organization’s active Cup lineup included Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Alex Bowman. Zilisch had signed an agreement to take over the No. 48 in 2028, following Bowman’s planned retirement from full-time driving after 2027.

Interviews

Rick Hendrick on Fifty Years of Automobile Retailing

In a September 2026 conversation with Erin Kerrigan, Hendrick discusses the automotive group’s long expansion and its move into additional luxury and performance brands. The interview also covers how he views dealership operations and management at the 50-year mark. It gives readers his own perspective alongside the group’s formal anniversary accounts.

Listen to the interview

Hendrick’s NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Remarks

This recording preserves Hendrick’s remarks from his 2017 Hall of Fame induction. It offers a firsthand view of how he credited the people who worked within the organization and acknowledged the team’s wider NASCAR community. The ceremony followed decades of championship competition and included remembrance of Ricky Hendrick.

Watch the induction remarks

Rick Hendrick on Racing Heritage and a Difficult Team Season

In this 2018 NBC Sports interview, Hendrick discusses his heritage collection and a difficult competitive period for the team. It offers a firsthand look at how he talked about setbacks, not just championships.

Read the interview

Further Reading

Sources