Hendrick Motorsports 40 Years NASCAR Racing’s Greatest Team Celebrates Four Decades

by White, Ben; Gordon, Jeff; Hendrick, Rick

• ISBN13: 9780760391235
• ISBN10: 0760391238
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-10-22
• Publisher: Motorbooks

Summary

“Spanning forty years and more than three hundred victories, the contributions of countless people have built Hendrick Motorsports into the greatest team in NASCAR history. This book is made up of their stories.” —Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, from the foreword

Celebrate the NASCAR-champion team’s 40th anniversary with this officially licensed history featuring stunning photography, including rare images from the Hendrick Motorsports archive.

Rick Hendrick built on a successful career in the retail automotive business to launch NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports in 1984. Over the ensuing four decades, it has become one of the most successful and high-profile teams in the sport’s long history. Competing in the elite NASCAR Cup Series, as of 2023, the team had posted the most points-paying wins and the most championships.

Hendrick Motorsports’ driver roster is a who’s who of the sport’s greats, including NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Today the team fields four drivers: William Byron, Alex Bowman, and Cup champions Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Hendrick Motorsports even fielded a team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023!

Hendrick Motorsportsrelates the team’s incredible history through 40 stories focused on team milestones since its founding in 1984. Stories and highlights include:

• The first win at Martinsville that saved the team
• Involvement with the motion picture “Days of Thunder” 
• The dominance of Jeff Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors
• The team’s historic 1-2-3 finish at the 1997 DAYTONA 500
• The record-tying seven championships of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus
• Hendrick Motorsports and the Earnhardts
• Becoming the first team to reach 300 wins at NASCAR's highest level
• The ground-breaking Garage 56 Le Mans program

Authored by long-time NASCAR journalist Ben White, with a foreword by Jeff Gordon and afterword by Rick Hendrick, the 200-page book includes images from top NASCAR photographer Nigel Kinrade and from Hendrick Motorsport’s archive.  As the official 40th anniversary book covering the team’s entire history, Hendrick Motorsport: 40 Years is the ideal retrospective.

Author Biography

Ben White attended his first NASCAR Cup Series race in 1972 at Darlington, South Carolina, at age 11. The Clinton, North Carolina, native drove his own race cars on a few local short tracks in the late 1970s before joining Richard Childress Racing as a crew member in 1980. White turned his attention to writing about NASCAR in 1983 for the Lexington Dispatch (North Carolina) newspaper, and he continues to write for that publication today, as well as North Carolina newspapers in Fayetteville, Kinston, Burlington, and Asheboro. From 1989 until 2010, he served as staff writer, managing editor, and senior editor of NASCAR Illustrated Magazine and managing editor of the American Racing Classics book series from 1991 to 1994. White has authored numerous NASCAR books including Motorbooks’ NASCAR Then and Now, NASCAR Racers, NASCAR Legends, and 20 Years of Hendrick Motorsports. White resides in Salisbury, NC.

Table of Contents

Section 1 1980s 
1 An Unlikely Powerhouse 
2 Keeping the Lights On: Martinsville Win Saves Hendrick Motorsports 
3 The Road to Daytona 
4 Hendrick Becomes a Modern Multi-Car Team
5 Shooting Star: The Brilliance of Tim Richmond 
6 Like a Dream: Darrell Waltrip Arrives with Expectations 
7 Ken Schrader Joins “Pop’s Team” 
8 Hitting the Road: The Corvette GTP Program 
9 Sidebar: Linda Hendrick’s Steady Presence 
SECTION 2 1990s 
10 Going Hollywood: The Making of Days of Thunder 
11 Ricky Rudd Brings Swagger and Strong Résumé 
12 Changing the Sport: Jeff Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors 
13 Home Game: Bragging Rights at Charlotte 
14 T-Rex: Creating a Monster 
15 Terry Labonte Ices Another Championship 
16 Truckin’: Jack Sprague Delivers Three Titles 
17 This One’s for You: Daytona Sweep Stirs Emotions 
18 Sidebar: It’s All About People: Rick Hendrick’s Winning Culture 
SECTION 3 2000s 
19 Ricky Hendrick: An Emerging Leader 
20 Stepping In: John Hendrick at the Helm 
21 Live From New York! It’s Jeff Gordon and Saturday Night Live 
22 No. 24 Team’s Fourth Championship Cements Place in History 
23 Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Move Rocks NASCAR 
24 Seventh Heaven: The Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus Dynasty 
25 The Triumph and Tragedy of Martinsville 
26 Sidebar: A Winning Combination: Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet 
SECTION 4 2010s 
27 Talented Kasey Kahne Joins the Team 
28 Chase Elliott: Second-Generation Champion 
29 An Unconventional Path Brings William Byron on Board 
30 Alan Gustafson’s Winning Ways 
31 Rick’s Refuge: The Hendrick Heritage Center 
32 Sidebar: Hendrick Motorsports and the NASCAR Hall of Fame 
SECTION 5 2020s 
33 The Enduring Legacy of Randy Dorton 
34 1-2-3-4: Alex Bowman Leads Historic Dover Finish 
35 269: A New Wins Record 
36 Wasting No Time: Kyle Larson Dominates
2021 Season 
37 Jeff Gordon: Takin’ Care of Business 
38 NASCAR to Le Mans: Garage 56 Goes Global 
39 The Double: Larson Chases Crown Jewels 
40 Sidebar: 300 and Counting
AFTERWORD BY RICK HENDRICK 
APPENDICES 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
PHOTO CREDITS 
INDEX