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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sad day for a class act


Air safety investigator Brian Rayner speaks to the media at fog-covered Bull Mountain, the crash site of the Hendrick plane.
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Mike Harris Associated Press

Rick Hendrick has spent 20 years as a NASCAR team owner and is one of the big players in the sport. Yet for all his success, he has never lost the wide smile and easy manner that make him welcome everywhere.

“Rick is one of those guys who is everybody’s friend,” said Terry Labonte, who has driven for Hendrick since 1994. “He can’t walk 20 feet in the garage without someone wanting to shake his hand or have a conversation.”

Now, Hendrick is grieving like never before. A plane crash killed all 10 people aboard, including four family members.

The plane, owned by Hendrick Motorsports, crashed Sunday in fog en route to a NASCAR race in Martinsville, Va. The dead included Hendrick’s son, Ricky, 24; brother John; and John’s 22-year-old twin daughters, Jennifer and Kimberly.

Also killed were Joe Jackson, an executive with DuPont; Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports; Randy Dorton, the team’s chief engine builder; Scott Lathram, a pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose father was killed in a 2001 crash during the Daytona 500, said this latest tragedy hit the racing community “like a hammer to the chest.”

Hendrick, 55, owner of one of the nation’s biggest networks of auto dealerships, already had a championship drag boat team when he established his NASCAR operation in 1984 with Geoffrey Bodine as his first driver. The fledgling team won three races that season and has added 125 more wins, including Jimmie Johnson’s victory Sunday at Martinsville.

That first team had fewer than 20 full-time employees and a small shop. The Hendrick Motorsports empire of 2004 has 460 workers at its North Carolina compound, which includes several race shops, buildings for the engine department, a fabrication department, a paint shop and a museum and team store.

“As you look back at NASCAR 100 years from now, people are certainly going to think of Rick as one of the great car owners,” team owner Richard Childress said. “I’ve always said he has class and integrity and he’s always been one of my favorite people.”

Hendrick’s team released a statement Monday on behalf of the family, thanking everyone for the “outpouring of support.”

Hendrick is credited with starting the trend of multicar teams, and he employs Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Labonte and Brian Vickers as his Nextel Cup drivers. The team won an unprecedented four consecutive Cup championships from 1995-98.

Jay Frye, general manager of Mb2-Mbv Motorsports, worked at the Hendrick shop in the early 1990s. His team now leases engines from Hendrick.

“Copying is the highest form of flattery you can give to anybody, and everything we do, we try to emulate what they do,” he said. “Everything they do is extremely professional, extremely first-class. The biggest thing is, everything … is all about the people.”

Hendrick has had good times off the track. He was a technical adviser for the Tom Cruise movie “Days of Thunder” and was one of the four original owners of the Charlotte Hornets.

There have been less happy times, however. Tim Richmond, who drove for Hendrick in the ‘80s, had his career cut short by AIDS, which eventually took his life.

In 1996, Hendrick was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. He underwent chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, turning over the operation of his team to his brother until 1999, when the disease went into remission.

During that period, Hendrick pleaded guilty to mail fraud involving the payment of $20,000 to a Honda executive. He was fined $250,000 but avoided jail time because of his leukemia. He was later pardoned by President Clinton.

“I don’t know what I would have done without John during that time,” Hendrick said afterward. “He gave me so much support and stepped in, and everything just kept on going like clockwork.”

The loss of his son and brother closely follows the death of Hendrick’s father, “Papa Joe” Hendrick, who died of lung cancer July 14. He was his son’s mentor and constant companion.

His brother remained an integral part of the team. Hendrick, however, made it clear his plans for the organization revolved around his son, who decided after an injury during a Busch Series race at Las Vegas to give up driving and concentrate on being a team owner.