Guest Mailbag with Rick Hendrick

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emailBy Mark Glendenning | 8 hours ago

In 36 years of competition, Hendrick Motorsports has established itself as one of the premier teams in the American motorsports landscape. Under owner and founder Rick Hendrick, the team has hoovered up 256 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series wins, and an all-time record of 12 Cup Series championships.

Of course, Hendrick is more than just a team owner. His racing roots can be traced back to his father Papa Joe’s exploits in modifieds and later to his own driving career in road racing, stock cars and even boats, while his business acumen has steered the Hendrick Automotive Group from its beginnings as a single Chevrolet franchise in South Carolina to an empire with billions of dollars in revenue and 129 franchises across 14 states.

It’s a privilege to welcome Mr. Hendrick as this week’s Mailbag guest, and we’re appreciative of his taking the time to answer questions from our readers.

We’re now also taking submissions for Michael Andretti, who will close out this first series of Guest Mailbags: please send your questions to guestmailbag@racer.com. For those waiting to hear from Tony Kanaan… watch this space. And you can catch up on previous installments of the Guest Mailbag here:

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Guest Mailbag with Acura Team Penske

Guest Mailbag with Jimmie Johnson

Guest Mailbag with the Haas Formula 1 team

Guest Mailbag with Mario Andretti, presented by HPD

And now, Rick Hendrick:

Q: I remember reading back when you signed Alex Bowman that he is a fan of the late Tim Richmond. Any chance that we could ever see Alex driving a No. 25 Hendrick Chevrolet instead of the No. 88? I think it would be so cool – No. 25 has such history for your team, and the fact that Alex is a fan of Tim, it might be a neat combination to honor Tim’s past with Alex’s future?

Jonny
Foothill Ranch, CA

RICK HENDRICK: I was pretty excited when Alex told me he was a fan of Tim’s. That was something we bonded over early on in our relationship. We ran a tribute to the Folgers car last year at Darlington, and Alex had a lot of fun with it. He recreated some of Tim’s old pictures. I think he even wore a wig. I have a soft spot in my heart for the No. 25. That was always my dad’s car. He was listed as the owner and had a close relationship with all the drivers and crew members. If you drove the 25, you knew that you had to answer to Papa Joe. We don’t have any plans to bring it back, but I can’t rule it out for the future. Same with the No. 5 car. Never say never.

Q: I’ve been the biggest J.J. fan since his rookie year when I was 10 years old. I know he has always wanted to race at Indy, and the fans are dying to see it. Will you let it happen at the double in July?

Yours sincerely,

Ryan Wells (The biggest J.J. fan and Hendrick loyalist since 1993).

RH: You really need to ask Chani (Jimmie’s wife)! Jimmie has talked about an IndyCar road race being on his bucket list. I’m not sure you’ll see it in 2020, but I’ll be watching whenever he decides to try. I’m willing to bet that he’ll open some eyes. I’ve never seen him more committed to NASCAR than he is right now. When we’re able to go back to the racetrack, it’s going to be a very, very hectic schedule. The No. 48 car winning races and Jimmie having a great final season is the priority for him and for me.
Richmond celebrates one of the two wins he claimed at Pocono with Hendrick in 1986. For maximum throwback cred, Alex Bowman should have made a trophy out of beer cans. Image by NASCAR

Q: Of the modern drivers we lost too soon, who do you think would have had the greatest NASCAR career if they had lived: Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Adam Petty, or Tim Richmond? Or is there another driver who was taken too soon? And why?

Which is the biggest differentiator for success in today’s NASCAR racing – equipment/technology, shop crew and operations, or race weekend crew and operations?

Finally, since NASCAR has tried to develop a “standard” optimum car, starting with the Car Of Tomorrow (COT), they haven’t been very successful making cars that can pass on the smaller tracks and slingshot on the superspeedways. Why didn’t NASCAR just take a 1972 NASCAR-outfitted Dodge Charger, capture the drag, downforce, track clearance, and grip of that car, and then create a new “standard” NASCAR configuration based on those criteria? It seems like a car designed with these characteristics would be a great baseline to produce great racing, and you could get rid of restrictor plates as well.

Thanks,

Brad from Powder Springs

RICK HENDRICK: The fact that it’s such a long list [of lost drivers] is tragic. Every driver you mentioned had the potential to win a lot of races and championships. One thing’s for sure: the record books would look a lot different today if they hadn’t left us too soon. Incredible talents, all of them. It would’ve been fun to watch those guys battle each other.

Tim probably possessed the most raw talent of any driver I’ve ever seen. If he had a full career, I know he would’ve won championships. And the sport would’ve been better off, too, because he had such a unique personality and presence. I would’ve loved to see Tim compete against Jeff (Gordon) and have more battles with Earnhardt. He was one of a kind.

As to your second question, no matter what business you’re in, I believe people are your number one asset. And it has to be the right combination. You need people who share your vision and who want to work together, support each other, communicate – all of those things. Investing in the right equipment and technology is very important. But if you don’t have the right people with the knowledge and expertise to get the most out of that technology, you might as well throw your money away. Great people win championships. Always.

And the third question… Finding that combination you described is a challenge in every form of racing. I think NASCAR has done a great job balancing the need for manufacturer relevance, safety, competition, parity – the list goes on. Have we been perfect? No one is. But I remember the old days when a driver could lap the field and stink up the show. We’ve come a long way since then. It’s something every sport has to deal with on some level. If you watched every football game on a Sunday, you’d get some great games, some OK games and some bad games. It happens in racing, too. It happens in every sport. Our good racing far outweighs the bad.

 

By Mark Glendenning | 8 hours ago

Q: What do you think your biggest missed opportunity was when it came to a driver in NASCAR? Who did you have the opportunity to sign, but didn’t, and saw them succeed on another team?

Josh Styles

RH: Great question. I’ve been so fortunate to work with some of the best drivers – and best people – ever to do it. You know, Richard Petty was supposed to drive for us when I started the team in 1984. I spoke with Dale Sr. about driving a few times. I joke that he would call me whenever he wanted a raise from Richard (Childress).

Tony (Stewart) and I have become close friends. I had a conversation with him very early on, before he signed with Coach Gibbs. At the time, he told me that he knew he wasn’t ready (for Cup) yet. I was always impressed by that. Tony eventually did run one race for me, an Xfinity race at Daytona. He won it, and I finally got to say that Tony Stewart drove for Hendrick Motorsports. That victory lane was a lot of fun.

I always wanted to work with Bill Elliott. He was an unbelievable driver and one of the best I’ve ever seen at breaking down a chassis. And he’s a great person to boot, and was so good with fans and sponsors. I’ve enjoyed being around him a lot more often with Chase driving for us. The timing just never worked out.

Q: Do you ever plan to return to sports car racing? Penske, Roush, Ganassi field or have fielded teams in recent years.

Rich Smith
Souderton, PA

RH: We had a lot of fun with the Corvette GTP program back in the ’80s and won some races. I’m a big fan of sports car racing, but I don’t see us jumping back into it. My focus is NASCAR.

Q: Will you ever do a video of your extensive car collection in the Heritage Center and elsewhere?

Robert Bird

RH: Absolutely. Collecting cars is a big, big passion for me. I caught the bug many years ago. My wife jokes that I’m an addict. I’m also a huge music fan and collect a lot of memorabilia. I’m a bit of a pack rat and wanted one place where I could put everything. I built the Heritage Center as a tribute to my family and a home for my cars and guitars. It’s very personal for me and holds a lot of meaning. In many ways, I owe everything to the automobile. The car business and racing have given me so many opportunities. I say this a lot, but I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I get to make a living doing the two things I love most outside of my family. It hasn’t always been a smooth road, but I consider myself very fortunate.

Q: How much do you think NASCAR benefited from the open-wheel split? And what do you think about the fact that the NASCAR/IndyCar relationship seems to be moving away from mutual hostility and more towards collaboration?

David Jennings
Roanoke, VA

RH: I’m a racer. Before I got into NASCAR, I was a drag racer. I raced boats. In the ’80s, we raced the Corvette GTP cars. I don’t believe that IndyCar has to do poorly for NASCAR to do well. Roger Penske is a great friend of mine, and he’s going to be a tremendous leader for that series. We can find ways to work together that are mutually beneficial and that get people excited about motorsports. When I see 200,000 people at the Indy 500, I think that’s terrific for racing. When the Daytona 500 sells out, that’s great for NASCAR, but it’s also great for racing. Let’s find ways for our individual series to be successful and for motor sports as a whole to be successful. That’s the win-win.
Hendrick has fond memories of the team’s GTP program, but NASCAR now has the team’s full focus. Image via Marshall Pruett Archives

Q: Please tell your best Geoff Bodine story!

Thanks,
Refugee John, Glens Falls, NY

RH: When I think about Geoff, I always go back to when I hired him to drive our first car in 1984. I met with him in my office at City Chevrolet in Charlotte. I told him that I already had an offer out to Tim Richmond but if Tim didn’t accept, the job was his. Tim owed me an answer that day. Geoff looked at me and asked if he could wait. I said, ‘Geoff, it could be hours. I don’t know when Tim’s going to call.’ Bodine said it was OK and just sat down in the waiting room. That’s how bad he wanted it. I was so impressed that I called Tim and told him we were going in another direction. I hired Geoff on the spot. He won three races that first year, and the rest is history.

Q: I’d like to know if you are compensated for cars that are deliberately wrecked by the drivers of competing teams? Is there some kind of leveling that happens behind the scenes?

Thanks so much!

Russell

RH: I’d be a lot better off financially if that were the case. There’s almost nothing worse than going down to Daytona and watching a million dollars worth of cars get destroyed at one time. I know how hard our teams work and how much time and effort goes into each car. It’s painful, but that’s part of racing.

Q: Jimmie Johnson has said he would like to try IndyCar. Any thoughts of becoming an IndyCar team owner, and asking Jimmie Johnson to be your driver?

John Metcalf

RH: I keep an eye on IndyCar and have a huge amount of admiration for the team owners and drivers. As I mentioned, Roger (Penske) is a great friend. I know Chip (Ganassi) very well and have a ton of respect for what he’s accomplished. There are a lot of talented people. Jeff Andrews, our vice president of competition, came from that world. NASCAR is where my passion is, but I’m a fan of open-wheel. It won’t be as a car owner, but I’ll help Jimmie however I can if he decides to pursue something over there. He’s done so much for me. I’m always going to support him in whatever he wants to do.

Q: What’s the single most memorable race in all of your years as a team owner? The 1997 Daytona 500 is mine. That one had to be very special given the circumstances?

Steve Tune, Birmingham, UK

RH: Oh, yes, the 1-2-3 Daytona finish in ’97 was very special. I was at home battling leukemia at the time. That win was the best medicine. Even though I wasn’t there, the pictures from that race are some of my favorites. The shots of all three cars crossing the line and our three drivers holding up the sign together – it’s hard not to smile when I look at them.

But the most meaningful one for me was when my son Ricky won the inaugural truck race at Kansas in 2001. I’ve never been so nervous at a race than during those closing laps. Then celebrating with him in victory lane. Linda and I were both there – it was just so emotional, and we were so proud of him. That’s a special memory that we will always have. Nothing could ever top it.

Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick, Insights & Analysis, NASCAR