Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: rick hendrick

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: PIR Subway Fresh Fit 500

    After one of the most exciting Daytona 500 finishes, the Cup Series promptly headed west to Phoenix International Raceway. Although it actually rained a bit in the Valley of the Sun, the second race of the NASCAR season, the Subway Fresh Fit 500, was filled with its own share of surprises.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”292″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In contrast to the youngest winner, 20 year old Trevor Bayne, celebrating in Victory Lane after his Daytona 500 win last week, a 39 year old veteran driver was finally able to celebrate a victory, ending a 66 race winless streak.  After receiving a big bear hug from team owner Rick Hendrick, the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, stood relieved and overwhelmed with emotion in Victory Lane.

    What seemed to mean the most to Gordon, in addition to beating Kyle Busch of course, was how the fans embraced his win.

    “Man, we just beat Kyle Busch!” Gordon said after getting out of his race car. “Are you kidding me? Pinch me, pinch me.”

    “I don’t really care how we do it because we just wanted to get to Victory Lane,” Gordon said. “But to do it that way, leading the most laps, and to see the fans’ reaction. What an awesome feeling it is.”

    “God, it feels so amazing,” Gordon said. “I’ve got to say thanks to the fans.”

    With the win at PIR, his 83rd, Gordon officially tied Cale Yarborough for fifth in NASCAR’s all-time win list. Gordon also catapulted up 21 spots in the points, now in the fifth position.

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising that Kyle Busch, who had won both the Truck and Nationwide Series races at PIR, was right there nipping at Gordon’s heels in the final laps. Busch battled back from an early incident to give Gordon a run for his money, just coming short of the sweep by finishing as the runner up.

    After paying homage to Gordon, Busch then apologized for getting into Carl Edwards, whose pole sitting race car was totally wrecked as a result of the contact.

    “It was unintentional,” Busch said. “All that aside, we came through a lot of adversity and kept battling through everything that was thrown at us. There at the end, Jeff just had a better car than us and flat out passed me.”

    Surprising: In a flashback moment to Daytona, there was actually a ‘big one’ at Phoenix International Raceway.  Thirteen cars were involved, including the likes of Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, Regan Smith and David Reutimann to name a few.  The race actually had to be red-flagged in order to allow for the extensive clean up needed.

    Clint Bowyer summed up his take on the ‘big one’ up best. “I’m pretty disgusted with the whole thing,” Bowyer said. “Our day is done.”

    Not Surprising:  Whether as a result of the big one or smaller skirmishes on the track, there were several drivers who were unhappy with one another, sparking the first rivalries of the season. One of the biggest differences of opinion occurred between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, who clashed in an early incident.

    “In my opinion, this was the car to win,” Edwards said after his tussle with Busch. “That’s too bold a move to make early in the race.  We had been in the running for the race win.”

    Other cross words were exchanged between Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth after getting into one another.

    “Matt wrecked us,” Vickers said simply. “It’s coming back to him.”

    Surprising: One of the most surprising finishes was for NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. After receiving a penalty for entering too fast into his pit, sliding through his pit stall, and breaking a wheel off the jack, Junior rallied back for a top ten finish.

    Not Surprising: Rick Hendrick’s wisdom in making his giant crew chief swap amongst the Hendrick drivers, sans Jimmie Johnson, certainly became evident at this race. Thanks to his pairing of Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the new duo was able to rally back from adversity, with Letarte serving as head cheerleader. And of course, the driver in Victory Lane, Jeff Gordon, credited his new crew chief pairing with Alan Gustafson, with getting him back to winning ways.

    Surprising and Not Surprising: It was surprising, yet not surprising, that last week’s winner Trevor Bayne had such a difficult time at Phoenix. He wrecked his primary car in practice and had the same experience in his back up car in the race. Bayne hit the wall hard, bringing out the third caution in the race and totally destroying the rear end of his No. 21 Wood Brothers race car.

    “I don’t know what happened,” Bayne said after the wreck. “That’s tough coming off of our high at Daytona to come to this, but we’ve got a great race team behind us.”

    “We’ll be back at Vegas,” Bayne continued. “I hate it ended this way this weekend, but we’ll be back.”

    Indeed all of the Sprint Cup drivers will be back and this time they will try their luck on the track in Sin City. The Kobalt Tools 400 will run at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 6th at 3:00 PM and will be broadcast on FOX and PRN.

  • Last Week Must Have Been a Dream

    Last Week Must Have Been a Dream

    Last week must have been a dream. I mean the euphoria of a new young star winning the biggest race of the season with a team that has few resources but a long history couldn’t possibly have happened. What we saw this week was the same old predictable story. Hendrick, Gibbs, and Childress cars usually go to the front and the rest end up at mid-pack. Today was no exception.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Part of the feel-good times of the last week had to do with what was a good story. A talented young man with a fresh face was the darling of the media. His story was with enough talent and enough determination, you can win races. Unfortunately, that’s not really true. You must have lots of money in addition to the other two. Today’s results, which will probably be repeated over and over this year, are proof positive that performance at restrictor plate tracks are no indication of what is going to happen in the other 32 races of the Sprint Cup series. At Daytona and Talladega, anyone can win. In the other races, not so much, and that’s a shame.

    In today’s race, Jeff Gordon started 20th and his teammate Jimmie Johnson started 28th, but I knew that didn’t make any difference. More often than not both are in the top five and fighting for the win at the end. It didn’t hurt anything that some of their major competition was wiped out in what seemed to be senseless hard racing in the early stages of the race, but even if Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and Jeff Burton had survived, the results may have been the same.

    Regardless, Jeff Gordon broke a 66-race losing streak and found it exhilarating. Watching Mr. Gordon celebrate is like watching a child celebrating a new bicycle. He really gets into it. Congratulations are in order, and in many ways, he was a new winner since it had been nearly two seasons since he had won. It doesn’t change the casual fan’s attitude toward our sport, however.

    It has long been my opinion that fans are bored with the same faces winning every week. Of course, these are not the fans of those who seem to dominate, but general fans. These general fans, who were so excited about the 2011 season one week ago, probably didn’t stick around for the end of the race. It was “business as usual” today. The top five consisted of three Hendrick Motorsports cars (remember, HMS fingerprints are all over Tony Stewart’s two car team), a Richard Childress Racing car, and a Joe Gibbs Racing car. The same old faces. You know the ones that have won the last five championships, six out of the last 10, and 10 of the last 16. That my friend is domination. Prior to that Richard Petty won a couple in a row and Dale Earnhardt did it a couple of times, but never to this extent. Rick Hendrick is such a fixture in victory lane that on youngster in the neighborhood, who is a star student in his 5th grade class, asked me, “Does he own NASCAR or something?” I bit my tongue.

    Of course, it’s not Mr. Hendrick’s fault that others can’t keep up. He has the resources and will to do what he does. And I believe he will continue to be successful for many years to come. I just wonder how the fans will react after the wild celebration of last week. When Jamie McMurray won, there was a subtle bump, but things got back to normal quickly. Maybe the Trevor-mania will continue and boost attendance and ratings for a long time, but I fear by mid-summer we’ll see the same problems in television ratings and track attendance. Yep, last week must have been a dream.

  • Daytona’s Magical Aura: Hendrick Motorsports’ 1997 Daytona 500

    Daytona’s Magical Aura: Hendrick Motorsports’ 1997 Daytona 500

    Daytona has always had this magical aura with stories surrounding the Daytona 500 that everybody loves to tell over and over. As we near closer to the Daytona 500, here is a look back through some of the highlighted moments in Daytona 500 history.

    While the boss was going through his fight with cancer, his drivers were trying to keep having success on track. With Rick Hendrick’s brother John leading operations, they headed to Daytona in 1997 with one goal.

    Late in 1996, Hendrick was diagnosed with leukemia and had to undergo treatment. He was also given 12-month house rest sentence by the courts for mail fraud with his dealerships while undergoing the treatment. As a result of the sentence and sickness, Hendrick put his brother John in charge and the three-car team headed down to Daytona.

    As they ran up front near the end of the race, Gordon took the attitude on the radio with the words, “We’re doing this thing. Never die. Never quit.”  Those words not only symbolized the attitude of the race, but yet the attitude they wanted their boss to keep. The attitude that they wanted him to recover.

    Gordon knew with the win that he could help in making Rick feel a little better so he took the attitude to go out and do it no matter what. When it came to the pass on Bill Elliott, he made the bold move of going under him, partly on the flat part of the track, knowing he had to make the move.

    Following behind Hendrick, Terry Labonte and Ricky Craven passed Elliott to make it a Hendrick 1-2-3.

    “Congratulations,” crew chief Ray Evernham came on the radio as the caution came out late in the going. “This is a great gift for Rick.”

    “You won’t believe it buddy,” Gordon said back. “Let’s come across here one-two-three.”

    On the last lap, they crossed the finish line three wide, doing it all for Rick. As Gordon said on the radio, “This is for you, Rick.”

    Their emotions gave them reason to push further and led to them to victory and classic Daytona style. It was the perfect type of medicine that they could have given their boss.

    Gordon added an extra dose of medicine at the end of the year when he won the championship, capping off a great season for Hendrick Motorsports.

    As the story goes, Hendrick fought through his cancer and made it through, pushing forward to continue his team to a whole new level. Hendrick fought through more emotional battles, though still reigns as one of the top owners in racing.

    Looking back even today at the finish, tears still come to the eyes as the emotions are brought forth of that exact race.

  • Fox Sports Chairman David Hill and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Eye Shorter Races

    Fox Sports Chairman David Hill and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Eye Shorter Races

    The Associated Press released a report today stating that Fox Sports Chariman David Hill would like to see shorter races. His ideal is set at having a four-hour broadcast with 40 minutes of pre-race coverage and 20 minutes of post-race coverage.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Shortening races could be a step in the right direction as the newer generation of fans has a lot of different forms of entertainment to choose from so condencing the races down allows for better focus.

    Also, some races can tend to be boring in the middle with how the action dies down, which at this poin is what draws fans away. Some fans have said that they just go watch the final 20 to 50 laps, plus the recap, and they’ve got their dose as the middle does dry them out. Some fans find themselves watching the beginning, falling asleep during the middle and then in the end, they wake up and catch the tail of the race feeling complete.

    NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. agrees with the sentiments, reciting examples from this past season with some races.

    “I think it’s a great idea, especially at certain events. The Pocono races are entirely too long,” Earnhardt said during the Media Tour. “I think NASCAR should shoot for a three-hour or three-hour and 15-minute televised event, and try to fit into that sort of time frame. But it can’t be done at all times. I understand. I think you’ve got to have races like the 600-miler [Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte] and the Daytona 500 and things like that — but there are certain events [that should be shortened].

    “For example, Phoenix was a good race. Adding that little bit to it didn’t make it better. It only made it longer; it only made it tougher to watch, tougher to witness. It was a good distance [prior to last year’s change], and the 300 laps at New Hampshire is the perfect distance.

    “Then you go to Pocono, and it’s entirely too long, obviously. It’s an obvious, glaring issue with everyone that’s there — but it’s like this huge, pink elephant that nobody wants to talk about. Maybe there was some kind of a guarantee or promise made in the deal years ago, and it’s something they won’t change. We’ll see how it goes.”

    Shortening the races would condense the amount of time allowed for drivers to make a move, therefore pushing them to drive harder. You see this at your local short track as the 50 to 100 lap features see drivers run hard every single lap. You also see this in the Camping World Truck Series with 150 to 250 mile races. This is the reason some have tuned over to the Truck Series as they like the excitement there. Could the same philosophy work in it’s big brother?

    Though, some changes would also have to be made if this change was to take effect. If fans were brought forth to pay the same ticket prices for a shorter span of time, you would see less fans traveling, espically since complaints about the prices have already been made. So therefore ticket prices would have to be dropped to go with the change. Some track owners may not be in the favor of this as this will reduce the profit made from their perspective.

    Also, Hill may think this is a good idea, though shorter time on television equals less time for him to display advertisements. As a result, he will be making less of a profit so will that be okay from his perspective?

    NASCAR CEO Brian France says the sport has taken a look at this and looking through the schedule, he says there are some changes that have been made.

    “We’ve done that over the last several years. I think you see with Atlanta being a 500-mile race, going to Kentucky, that’s a 400-mile race. California going to Kansas, you’re seeing that’s a 400-mile race,” France said during the Media Tour. “We awarded the second one in California. That is a 400-mile [race]. …

    “So there will be alterations as we go down the road to shorten them up by a little bit. [There are] no expectations from us to make any drastic changes — but 100 miles changes a complexion of a race, depending where you are, for sure. And we’re going to continue to look at that. And we’ll look at the Nationwide [Series] events where we want to have good separation between a Sunday and Saturday show. … [We] will be looking at the length of Nationwide events as we go down the road.”

    Another change to look at is the length of the season, in team owner Rick Hendrick’s opinion.

    “I absolutely think the races ought to be shorter, and I think the season ought to be shorter. It’s just so long,” Hendrick said. “We’ve got so much to look at — we’ve got baseball, basketball, football all going on at one time, and then [there is] our season.

    “Football players, I’ve got some friends, and they get to take months off. We get back from [Las] Vegas [and the banquet to cap off the season], we start testing, and we’re working harder in the offseason than in the regular season. If we had three more months off, I think the fans would be eager to watch it again. But I don’t know.”

    Making the season shorter could have some advantages as it would give the guys some time off so they wouldn’t be as worn out and with having less races during the year, it would make the fans more hungry to turn into the action when it did start up. Though a negative side is the waiting game and a lot of fans may not be happy with that as they already say that a two-month off-season is long enough for them to stand. Then bring in the financial deal in the fact that less races = less money for that and you may have partners dropping out as a result.

    “I think the financial rewards from having the season as it is are too great,” Earnhart said. “It’s almost as if each race is a limb that you can’t amputate. It’s too big a deal to shorten the season. It’s not a simple task to say, ‘All right, this guy is losing a date. Is everybody cool with that?’

    “It’s so challenging. There are tons of money involved and tons of livelihoods involved — and people’s careers and opportunities are involved. So I don’t believe we’ll ever see a shorter season. But I do believe that in my lifetime I will see the shorter races across the board at 80, 75 percent of the events.”

    All in all, this is a debate that considers a bunch of factors mixed together – fans and their feelings and the profit of all the companies that are connected to the ordeal. To come to any agreement, everybody will have to agree on something that works for all parties. Whether that equals shorter races or not, that will be a question that NASCAR faces in the future.

    Oh, by the way……

    40 minutes for the pre-race show and 20 minutes for post-race show is something that may have to be questioned.

    Pre-race shows have gotten to the point of including ridiculous content that has caused some fans to turn away. In contrast, post-race shows have been too short as they don’t contain the right amount of interviews to cover the events and speak to the drivers about what had happened throughout the race.

    To gain fans back to watching racing on television rather through radio or getting updates online, they will need to address this issue as this is another reason that television ratings have been going down. Maybe flip the two and have a short pre-race show, yet long post-race show.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Reality Is, Races Are Run on the Track, Not at the Shop

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Reality Is, Races Are Run on the Track, Not at the Shop

    For the second straight season, Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick, was able to keep the fans as well as the media right where he likes them, poking around his organizations race shops looking for the hottest story to finish off the year.

    We already know one the hottest stories to come out from behind the doors of one of NASCAR’s most decorated organizations is Jimmie Johnson’s record setting fifth straight championship in-a-row.

    It’s not hard to see that most of the fans are still trying to convince themselves that somehow NASCAR got it all wrong by allowing such a travesty to enter the sport by way of a fiasco called the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Even though Johnson walked away the big winner for the fifth straight year, the biggest question to come out of the HMS camp during the season was the poor showing by NASCAR’s most popular driver again.

    No other driver received the amount of publicity for such a poor season then the son of one of the true legends of the sport, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Question after question was posted, along with many fictional answers as to why this 36 year-old driver from Kannapolis, North Carolina has not been able to perform according to their standards.

    These standards are what every NASCAR fan hopes their favorite driver can achieve, but unfortunately, not all drivers are capable of reaching them, whether it be because of talent, skill, heart, desire, equipment or whatever excuse will be placed upon them.

    Excuses have become second nature whenever Earnhardt’s fans have tried to justify or explain why he is having trouble with an organization that is said to have the best equipment in the sport.

    How many organizations can boast of having a four-time, along with a five-time champion, on the same team?

    Wasn’t it just last season when a 50 year-old driver by the name of Mark Martin, who was driving in his first season with the organization won five races, along with finishing second in the points behind cup champion Jimmie Johnson?

    Martin just about stole the headlines away from Johnson towards the end of the season, but the big story was the signing of IZOD IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick, only a few days after NASCAR’s season ending awards banquet.

    The signing of Patrick took the focus off of Johnson’s fourth championship, when a legion of doubters began flooding the NASCAR social sites explaining why the GoDaddy.com poster girl should not be allowed to race in NASCAR’s second tier series.

    Marketing has always been the cornerstone of this great sport of ours, and it’s no wonder that Mr. Hendrick has made it one of his key ingredients when it comes to building a successful organization.

    After all, when you look back to Earnhardt’s last three seasons with the organization, the majority of the fans began putting him into the same category as Patrick with the moniker that Hendrick only hired him because of his popularity.

    Now, whether it is true or not has yet to be proven, especially after Hendrick heard the cry from the fans and replaced Earnhardt’s long time crew chief Tony Eury Jr. with Lance McGrew.

    It wouldn’t take long before Earnhardt’s fans would begin questioning whether McGrew was the right man for the job, and once again, the focus of Earnhardt’s poor results would be back in the hands of his crew chief.

    So when Hendrick made the announcement at the end of the season that Earnhardt would be getting Gordon’s crew chief Steve Letarte to start the 2011 campaign, along switching the shops of the 24 and 88 teams, almost immediately Earnhardt’s legion of fans went into a frenzy saying this should be the move that puts their driver back in victory lane.

    Now from a marketing standpoint, it made all the sense in the world, especially when you are dealing with the sport’s most popular driver and part of the focus being on keeping his fans happy.

    Changing shops is not the answer to the problems which Earnhardt has faced since coming on board with HMS in 2008, and when you think about it the only difference is the car number sitting next to his.

    Earnhardt will be working with a new group of team members, which will be led by his new crew chief Steve Letarte.

    Sharing a race shop with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson will not make him a better driver, nor will it help the team since each driver has their own driving style and set-ups which they prefer.

    When looking back to 2002, when Johnson first came into the series, Gordon’s best season was in 2007 when he finished second in the point standings, with six wins while sharing the same shop with Johnson.

    Gordon, who has proven to be a more experienced driver than Earnhardt, missed only one chase appearance in 2005, which happened to be the same year Steve Letarte took over for Robbie Loomis with 10 races left in the season.

    Gordon would add an additional 10 wins, 78 top-five and 114 top-10 finishes in 190 starts with LeTarte as his crew chief, but in the end would only pick-up one win in the last three seasons which is way below Gordon’s standards.

    “Five years is a long opportunity, and I had an opportunity to get him there, and we came close a few years but we never got there completely,” said Letarte who will not be back with Gordon next season.

    Letarte also added that, “I’m definitely disappointed in that. … I’m a crew chief in this sport because of Jeff Gordon, and Rick Hendrick.”

    Letarte knows he will have his hands full next season and the task at hand will not be an easy one, especially when you’re talking about a driver who means so much to the sport.

    “I was excited for the opportunity. I was humbled. It’s a very important task for this company, for Dale Jr., for the sport, and I take it as that. I was very proud that I was the guy tagged for that. I’m excited, and I’m ready to go,” said Letarte when talking about the move to the No. 88 team.

    Whether or not the changes will be beneficial to Earnhardt is a question mark that will be answered once the 2011 season begins, even though in the minds of the purist races are run on the track and not in the shop.

    As far as Earnhardt’s fans are concerned, they need to realize a four-time champion encountered his own problems while sharing a shop with Johnson, and it’s not the shop that makes the driver, even though Earnhardt feels otherwise:

    “I needed this to happen. Hopefully, this will get me back to winning races, running in the top five and running in the top 10.” said Earnhardt of the change.

    Earnhardt also added, “The only person that can truly help me get where I need to go starts with me, then it goes to Rick, Steve [Letarte] and those guys in your inner circle every week and in your corner every week.”

    How many crew chiefs will it take to get Earnhardt back into victory lane is anyone’s guess, but the answer may be plain and simple in the eyes of NASCAR’s most popular driver:

    “My biggest problem, I think, is my confidence,”

  • Rick Hendrick’s Journey to a NASCAR Dynasty

    Rick Hendrick’s Journey to a NASCAR Dynasty

    Rick Hendrick started out with the simple life working on the family farm in Virginia, but he was always interested in cars and speed.  He worked with his father building cars and went drag racing in an old Chevy.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]While still in high school he won a contest for building engines.  His thoughts of becoming a baseball player faded and he attended North Carolina University in a program that had him also working at Westinghouse Electric Company in Raleigh, N.C.

    He then decided to purchase a used car lot with the help of an established new car dealer and it was named Hendrick Automotive Group.  In 1976 he sold his assets to buy a franchise in South Carolina and became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the country.

    Hendrick was able to turn the troubled dealership into one of the most profitable in the region.  From there he bought a dealership in Charlotte N.C. and the rest is history with his success in automotive dealerships now exceeding some 80 franchises employing in excess of 5,000 employees.

    Drag boat racing fascinated him in the late 70’s and he had a team that won three championships and set a world record of 222.2 with Nitro Fever.

    With his automotive business home base being located in Charlotte, it was a natural that he became involved in the NASCAR Sportsman (Nationwide) series.  By 1984 he formed All-Star Racing which is now Hendrick Motorsports.  He cobbled together a small race shop with five employees and attempted to pull off a deal to have Richard Petty race the Daytona 500 for him, but the deal fell apart.

    Not to be discouraged by the fact he no sponsor or driver, Hendrick hired Geoff Bodine who finished eighth in the Daytona 500.  Money was tight and Hendrick didn’t think he could race more than five races, but Bodine won at Martinsville and Northwestern Security Life came on board with sponsorship funds and at that point saved the day for the team.

    Hendrick credit’s the loyalty of his group of employees for the success he has had.  He said, “I want to be competitive and I want to win races and championships, but you know what means more to me?  Guys who say our place is special and appreciate their jobs and feel like it’s a family.”

    Hendrick added, “You’ve got to win, you’ve got to perform and you’ve got to take care of each other.”

    The ability to lead, make good decisions and inspire loyalty has started at the top with Hendrick and led to stability throughout his organization

    His recent tough decision to swap the teams around within his organization is just one example of his leadership.  Though the shakeup was announced two days after Jimmie Johnson clinched his fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, the decision was made two weeks before in a lengthy meeting with all the involved parties.

    It was Hendrick that calmed the waters after the news making  mid- race team swap of the Lowe’s 48 over-the-wall crew with Jeff Gordon’s crew.  He  motivated everyone not to rest, not to back down and to continue to overcome Denny Hamlin’s chance to win his first NASCAR title in the Cup series.

    Hendrick watched the Petty Championships and the titles won by Richard Childress Racing and wondered how he could beat them.  Well it is obvious he put all the pieces in place to win 10 Championships in NASCAR top-tier series.

    Jimmie Johnson’s fifth consecutive championship put the dynasty built by Rick Hendrick in the record books as one of the top organizations in sports history alongside teams like the Boston Celtics and New York Yankees.  In the NHRA John Force who has 15 Top Fuel Funny Car titles, won 10 in a row from 1993 to 2002.

    Hendrick plans to win more championships with his roster of drivers, Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin who will hopefully yield winning results with the realignment of all the teams except for the five-time champ and his crew chief, Chad Knaus.  In 2012 Kasey Kahne will move in to the slot occupied by Mark Martin along with his crew chief, Kenny Francis.

    It has been a long road for Hendrick and not always an easy one with legal problems, illness and the tragic airplane crash that killed his son, brother and two nieces along with others from the organization.

    For now though, Hendrick Motorsports has set the bar very high for all the other NASCAR teams.  Watching how the Hendrick drivers fare in 2011 will be very interesting and we just may see some surprise turnarounds.

  • Fourth Turn, A Fan’s Perspective …. Post Season Withdrawal

    Fourth Turn, A Fan’s Perspective …. Post Season Withdrawal

    Well the season has officially ended. The NASCAR Champions banquet has been held and the dishes are done, the smoke has cleared and yes Jimmie really did win it for the 5th time, even if you did have to stay up half the night to see the presentation of the cup. The crew chiefs have all gone back to work making bigger, badder and meaner race cars. The pit crews are in off season strengthening mode. The marketing people are looking for new twists and new angles. The big chiefs are looking for more innovative sponsorship arrangements. And drivers are working out with their children and families. Some are challenging for a new trophy in Fantasy Football. Some are meeting the challenges of new fatherhood.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]But for the fan’s the off season is more of a challenge. For instance, Santa Rick Hendrick gave three of his drivers’ fan contingencies their Christmas gifts early, presumably so he could get back to his normal business routine of playing Santa to his Grandchildren and taking care of business for his employees across the country. Though the act was well meaning, it added to the long, long off season wait for the return to racing. You could almost see him checking off his list. There was a new crew chief for Jeff and Mark and Junior, A new building for Jr. Nation, A new paint job for Jeff’s and Mark’s fans, and a new look and feel for the 5 time champ. That should about do it you could almost hear him chuckle. But oh the horror of the wait Santa H, we have the new toys but can not play with them until February.

    In order to assist his fans in their withdrawal modes, Kevin Harvick made available a few items featuring the new Budweiser 29 Chevrolet. Just in time for your Christmas shopping pleasure and to avoid the need for hospitalization for your favorite NASCAR fan.

    Jeff Gordon saw the need as critical for his fan base and unveiled the new Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet on every major morning TV show. The car, a sharp new Candy Apple Red and Silver Metallic, oozed speed even while it sat still. But one could almost hear the yells at the female anchors who so obviously had no idea what front down force meant and had been schooled about the importance of the Daytona 500 but were obviously not sure when that was.

    NASCAR is trying hard to do their part with updates on the Hall of Fame Inductee’s and Christmas packages at the NASCAR Superstore. The fan council has new TV survey’s to complete and the media has story lines from 2010 to rank. There are the rumors of mid season changes to the COT’s fuel delivery system. The new nose has been unveiled. The determination of Sprint Cup driver participation in the Nationwide Series has yet to be released. And of course there is the new fuel to debate and learn the fine points of.

    But still the fan’s grow restless it’s been 3 weeks since the engines fired. There are cars on GM’s test track in Arizona but we can’t see them, hear them or smell them. Brad Keselowski is in Columbus Ohio to help Nationwide celebrate its champion festival, but we aren’t there. Even Jeff Gluck and Joe Menzer are relatively quiet. The minds of NASCAR fans are searching for a way to fill the void. The chat rooms and message boards are running qualifying lap speeds and still the matrixing has begun.

    Stories are pouring in of new ways that NASCAR fans have found to ease the discomfort of withdrawals from the sport. The rearranging of rooms of memorabilia, holiday pies shaped like the 5 Sprint Cups all bearing the 48 in whipped cream. The holiday Coconut cake that was Amp Green with red 88’s, (they are Christmas colors after all) the Christmas trees that are decorated all in NASCAR and team ornaments, including the one that is all car parts and sheet metal wreaths.

    Which brings us to the David Letterman standard; the top 10 ways you know if you or someone you love is a NASCAR fan in withdraw. *insert drum roll here please*

    10. You go through the chip display to find a bag of Bugles with the 33 Chevrolet on it instead of the new holiday bags.

    9. You get volunteered to take the boys of the family Christmas shopping and you say to your young male shopping companions as you enter the mall, “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity Let’s go shopping boys.”

    8. At a holiday party alternative fuel sources come up in the discussion and you start your opinion with, “Sunoco’s E 15 fuel, partners American Farmers with Speed for the good of the planet and the sport….”

    7. You see an Intimidator Monte Carlo complete with Taz in the parking lot of the grocery store and you stand in awe with tears in your eyes and Whisper ‘It’s a beautiful thing’.

    6. You and your best friend race the motorized carts at Wal-Mart in the Wally World 250 and use your cell phones for in cart cameras.

    5. You nominate the HMS Paint and Body Department for best Artistic presentation at your Alumni Christmas party.

    4. Your date is describing a play from the football game and he says, “He got loose and headed down the field …” And you say “maybe they need to go a round up on his track bar.”

    3. You are waiting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office addressing envelopes and another patient says, Christmas Cards? You shake your head in disbelief and say ‘Daytona 500 party’.

    2.  You are watching a NASCAR race on TV and are very animated when your house mate reminds you this race was run in 1999. You calmly look at them and say “So what’s your point man on any given day anyone can win.”

    And the number one reason you know you are a NASCAR fan in withdraw.

    1. You pull up to a stop light and look to your left and see a Toyota Camry and say to your best friend. I can take it. Watch. Your best friend reminds you that this is a Malibu and you say yeah but I got my Malibu from Rick Hendrick and you both give thumbs up.

    If any of these sounds like your favorite NASCAR fan or even yourself, please don’t panic. Remain calm and remember that the Daytona 500 is in 75 days. The first official test of the season at Daytona on new pavement is December 15th and 16th. So it’s not long and it’s not far. Please be considerate of the safety of others and try to remember, ‘Have at it Boys’ does not carry over to Target at Christmas time.

    Happy Holidays to all!

    *Legal Disclaimer, any resemblance to any party, including the writer of this piece, is purely your imagination. Photo documentation and at least 3 statements of confirmation from at least 3 series champions will be required to verify these acts as factual. No animals, small children, or elderly individuals were injured during the performance of any of the above acts.

    ~~~~~****~~~~~

    Thoughts and prayers to the friends and families to all that we have lost this year, this is a difficult time but know that you are not alone. Continued thoughts and prayers for a speedy and full recovery go out to Shame Hmiel.

    Happy Holidays to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you had to give every single week, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.

  • Jimmie Johnson: More of the Same, Yet Different

    Jimmie Johnson: More of the Same, Yet Different

    NASCAR Championship week in Las Vegas has culminated yet again in the crowning of Jimmie Johnson as the Sprint Cup Champion. And while it might feel like more of the same old same old with Johnson as the now five time champion, there is still a feeling in the air that this year is somehow different.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Sure, Johnson’s consistency and resiliency have served him well, as it has since he won his first championship in 2006. Amazingly, his statistics during that period, from race wins, poles, top five, top ten and average finishes have all remained steadfastly and almost eerily consistent, especially with the resultant championships.

    Johnson’s partnership with crew chief Chad Knaus has been another source of sameness and constancy and is in fact the only driver/crew chief relationship that was not changed for next year by team owner Rick Hendrick. Their partnership has garnered the pair an absolute place in the NASCAR history books and whispers of the greatest driver and crew chief in the sport today abound.

    Throughout it all and in spite of all the pressure, there is one other thing that also has remained the same throughout Johnson’s championship runs, that of his laid-back, California-style personality. Even in the midst of the most hotly contested Chase this year, including some heavy-duty trash talking from his competitors, the five-time champion never flinched, keeping his focus clear and his emotions in check.

    Yet in spite of all of these similarities, resulting in yet again another championship for an historic fifth time in a row, this 2010 Chase and Johnson’s participation in it has somehow also been very different.

    Perhaps the biggest difference is that, unlike other years where Johnson literally ran away with the season leading up to the Chase and the Chase itself, he and his team actually struggled. No one knew that or acknowledged it any better than Chad Knaus, who had the best view of the struggles from atop the pit box.

    “This year, we didn’t have the product that we had in previous years in terms of race cars,” Knaus admitted. “So we had to find other ways to win.”

    Johnson admitted similar feelings, particularly when it came to the speed of his race cars. He did, however, note one important and somewhat new mitigating factor, that of the blood, sweat, and tears that he and his entire team had to put into the season to accomplish the same results as in the past.

    “I think this year we showed what this team is made of,” Johnson said. “We may not have had the most speed, but we had the most heart.”

    In addition to the most heart, Johnson and especially his crew chief also had an incredible measure of courage and some would say cojones. This was most evident when, in the middle of a race when Johnson’s crew was not performing well, Knaus replaced them quickly with Jeff Gordon’s crew, who became available after the much-heralded wreck between him and Jeff Burton that took Gordon out of the race.

    Given these struggles, Johnson, Knaus and company found themselves in another different and unusual place, that of not being on the top of the points defending their championship during the final race of the season. Instead, the No. 48 driver and team were in all-out, having to win the race mode in order to secure their next place in the sport’s history.

    The prime example of this is the fact that Knaus, who had had at least a draft of his speech ready going into Homestead in prior years, admitted that he was completely unprepared and still tweaking his banquet speech.

    “In the past, I’ve had about a week or so to start thinking about my speech,” Knaus said. “This time it was like Lap 267 in Miami.”

    Probably the biggest difference this year for Johnson as he accepts yet another shiny Sprint Cup trophy, is that he now has not only his wife Chandra but also baby girl Genevieve with whom to share it all. In fact, a common sight during this week’s Championship festivities in Las Vegas has been Johnson, lugging his baby’s car seat, if not cuddling with the princess herself, all over town.

    “I am trying to be much more responsible since I have the baby,” Johnson said. “It means a lot to me to have her here and it’s a great experience to share it with my family. She will never remember it but we will have photos.”

    All of these things combined, especially the new baby, have led Johnson to a most different championship year, in spite of the same old result. Yet one thing will remain the same, at least from Chad Knaus’ perspective, and that is the need to get back to it quickly in preparation for the 2011 season.

    “Here’s the facts. We have started preparing at Hendrick Motorsports for next year,” Knaus said. “We are full force to make sure that we take a better product to the race track next year and it’s going to be so. We are hard at it.”

    Johnson will be hard at it himself as well. After enjoying his first Christmas with his new baby girl, he will shortly be back on the track, from testing for the upcoming Daytona 500 to racing in the 2011 Rolex 24.

    “Really, I just want to be home and enjoy what we’ve accomplished,” Johnson said. “It’s going to go by quick.”

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Most Popular Driver Award & Talks about his Future

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Most Popular Driver Award & Talks about his Future

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the NMPA Hamburger Helper Most Popular Driver Award for the 8th consecutive year. He accepted the award on Thursday in Las Vegas at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers 2010 Awards Luncheon.

    Earnhardt Jr. began by saying that receiving the award was “a great honor” but first he wanted to congratulate his teammate Jimmie Johnson. He joked about forgetting to congratulate him last year adding that Rick Hendrick had already sent him a text message to remind him to do so.

    [media-credit name=”Dale Earnhardt Jr. accepts his eighth consecutive Hamburger Helper Most Popular Driver Award during the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Awards Ceremony on Thursday. Photo by CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]He went on to congratulate General Mills, NMPA, his sponsors and his team but his most heartfelt thanks went to his fans.

    “They really make everything about this sport, about this very moment here, possible for all of us,” said Earnhardt.

    After the luncheon, Earnhardt Jr. spoke with the media about the 2011 season with new crew chief Steve Letarte.

    He described learning about the crew chief change saying, “It’s like knowing what you’re getting for Christmas, but not being able to mess with it until that morning.”

    But he also acknowledged that the real change will begin with the driver himself.

    “The only person that can truly help me get where I need to go, obviously, starts with me, Earnhardt Jr. said. “Then it goes to Rick (Hendrick), Steve and those guys that are your inner circle every week and that are in your corner every week.

    “My biggest problem, I think, is my confidence. I know what I’ve done in the past. I know that I’ve out run and beat these guys that I compete with each week before and I just have to remember that the potential is there.”

    Earnhardt Jr. also believes “there’s a swagger that you have to have,” and the only way he will be able to get that back is to put together some tops five runs.

    “To convince myself to get back to where I need to be confidence wise, I need to see it happen on the track. I can’t just talk myself into going to the track thinking the way I need to think. I’m going to go there and mash the gas and it needs to happen. When it happens, then I’ll go, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s supposed to be like’ and then you kind of get the swagger back and the confidence comes back and everything is rock solid. You win battles, little battles throughout the day with that confidence that you normally don’t win whether it’s with yourself or your competition out on the race track. There are thousands of battles happen throughout the race.”

    Many believe Earnhardt Jr.’s problems on the racetrack began with the introduction of the COT and he admits that it “has been challenging.”

    “But I think the potential for the car to get the grip and get the feel of the race track that I need is there because I’ve had it before. We just missed it. The cars are just not into the track to get the speed and get the grip that I feel like I need to get. We haven’t been able to find what that combination is, whether it’s a package in the springs or the sway bars, which it probably isn’t. We’re missing something for the car and the feel that I need to feel. It could be anything related to the car even before it comes into the crew chief’s hands, we just have to see.”

    Although the last few years have been difficult for Dale Jr., he’s not looking for your pity. Instead, he is looking ahead to the future and the opportunity to prove himself.

    “I don’t think I should win any sympathy votes. We need to perform. We need to be hard on ourselves to how poorly we ran at times last year. We need to force ourselves and push ourselves to improve and that’s what we try to do every offseason. Physically and mentally it can be kind of tough on you but you just kind of rebound and renew yourself in the offseason and renew your faith in your abilities.”

  • Rick Hendrick: The Artwork of a NASCAR Champion and Someone To Always Respect

    Rick Hendrick: The Artwork of a NASCAR Champion and Someone To Always Respect

    When it was announced last year at the Sprint Cup Series banquet that Rick Hendrick would be receiving Bill France Award of Excellence, nobody was surprised.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Everybody understood why Hendrick was receiving the award, as his actions through his 26 years in the sport speak for themselves. Hendrick has proven himself on-track as he’s made Hendrick Motorsports the best team in NASCAR.

    Though beyond that, he’s been through a lot of personal battles and stayed strong as he fought a battle with leukemia in 1997, and fought through the death of 10 of his closest friends in 2009.

    The success for Hendrick through the 26 seasons has been great, considering where it started and how it could’ve not even taken place. Hendrick and driver Geoff Bodine went into the Martinsville race in 1984 with one thing on their mind—run well or else they’d be done soon.

    “It was a pivotal race for us,” Hendrick later told The Sporting News in a 2004 interview. “I know exactly what some of these guys feel like who have an unsponsored car—we did not have a sponsor. We had a small associate on the car, All-Star Racing and City Chevrolet, my store in Charlotte. We were running the deal out of our pocket and needed some success to sell a sponsor.”

    Bodine would do more then just run well and lock in some sponsorship—he’d win the whole show as he took the lead with 48 laps to go and never looked back.

    “The race just unfolded,” Bodine said. “We were running good. I knew you had to pace yourself at this track; brakes were really important. I was doing that throughout the race. At the end, it was just perfect. The neat thing about the race was it was Rick’s first win, my first win; but no one fell out of this race. None of the good cars were out.”

    Hendrick wasn’t there for the race as at the time, he was in church with his wife. After the race was over, he called his mother and asked him how they had done. His mother told him, “Bodine blew up…no seriously! Nobody has told you! He won!”

    That year, Hendrick and Bodine finished the year with a total of three wins, seven top-fives, 14 top-10s and three pole positions.

    Since then, the success has only grown for Hendrick as his drivers have won 194 Cup races and 10 Cup titles.

    In the process, he’s also set records. In 2010, driver Jimmie Johnson became the only driver ever in NASCAR history to win five championships in a row (2006-2010) and Hendrick now ranks at the top of the all-time winners list.

    Last year, Hendrick also became the only driver to have his cars finish one-two-three with Johnson first, Mark Martin second and Gordon third. The size of the organization has also grown along the way as he went from a small shop of approximately 20 people to now employing more than 500 people.

    Though when it came to Betty Jane France’s speech to announcing the award to Hendrick, it was not the stats she brought up; it was the other elements of Hendrick.

    “NASCAR has had many iconic figures throughout its rich history, and Rick Hendrick certainly falls into that category,” France said. “Through the years, he has not only won our respect but our hearts as well.” These words from France were preceded also by praise from two of his drivers during their speeches at the banquet.

    “You taught me to live big and small—live big in your passion for what you do, what you believe in and in your successes, but be humble and appreciative and give thanks for all those things,” Jeff Gordon said during his speech.

    Martin said in his speech he sees “a little bit of Rick Hendrick in each and every one of” the employees of the team and went on to add, “You just win everything there is in NASCAR. You made history, win all these championships. You’re a big winner. Congratulations and thanks for letting me be a part of it. But that’s not the most impressive part of it. To me, you’re a true champion as a person, such an incredible individual that affects so many people in a positive way. I’d like to be more like you.”

    These elements that both Gordon and Martin speak about go towards the way that he treats the people around him.

    During discussions about the sport, you hear people getting talked about in a negative way somehow. Though in the midst of those discussions, nobody has anything negative to say towards Hendrick, as most people respect him and always regard him as a positive person. This is because he always treats people—no matter who they are or what their background is—positively and with respect. Hendrick is a person that you never see talk bad about people, even when others may.

    One example would be Kyle Busch, 

     a driver whom Hendrick released in 2007. Everybody speaks of Busch in a negative light, due to how he’s reacted on track with his attitude. Everybody thought Hendrick let him go and did it due to that attitude and didn’t want to deal with him.

    Though according to Busch’s manager Jeff Dickerson, it was Hendrick who gave Busch and Dickerson the best advice in choosing a new team for Busch to go with. Dickerson recalled going to Hendrick numerous times to ask him questions and Hendrick would always be open to answering them. Dickerson credited Hendrick for being one of the main players in the changing of the teams. Busch also went on to add that nobody was to sit and blame Hendrick for letting Busch go, as that was partly the fault of Busch.

    The reason Hendrick had let him go and hired Earnhardt Jr. was because Busch was hinting that he was looking around, when actually he was liking the scenario at Hendrick Motorsports.

    So why does Hendrick have the theory to go out and be nice to everybody, even if they’re on an opposing team? Simple—it’s all about the people for him. When speaking of the success of his organization, he always feels the need to bring up the people first.

    “I think our people are the biggest asset,” he says. “If you can keep it together and tweak it, it’s much better off than tearing it down and rebuilding it every year. It slows you down.

    “I’ve seen this happen in my career here. You can have all stars together; there’s no guarantee they’ll work. I mean, you can guess the best so called crew chief and best driver in the garage area and put them together, and that’s not necessarily going to work. You know, what I’ve tried to do is promote tweaking it rather than rebuilding it. I’m a fix it kind of guy rather than a strip-it-and-rebuild-it kind of guy.”

    This attitude is what drives the employees to work so hard and why you’ll see Hendrick employees putting that extra effort in, according to Johnson, Alan Gustafson and General Manager Marshall Carlson.

    “It starts with Rick and his vision and what he has given us all to work with in his 25 years in the sport,” Johnson says. “He’s just done an amazing job. I’m happy to make him happy, I’m happy to make him smile.”

    “The way that he goes about keeping us going, he’s got one requisite, and that is that we race together, and that’s absolutely imperative,” Carlson adds. “Beyond that, he gives everyone a lot of flexibility and a lot of autonomy, a lot of—as far as the X’s and O’s, these guys figure that out, and these guys bring their game to the track.

    “And I think that competitive people who want to win are attracted to that. I think that’s why Jimmie was attracted to the organization and Chad and why they continue to want to be there. …There’s 500 teammates back at Hendrick Motorsports who have built that place, and every single one of us owes an incredible debt of gratitude to Rick for his leadership, for his commitment and dedication for giving us the resources to have these opportunities.”

    “I don’t think there’s any person that I’ve ever met who was more compassionate and who treats fellow human beings better than Rick Hendrick,” Gustafson says. “And I think that’s the key for me personally, and that’s all I can speak on.

    “…There’s not any magic. The fact is he’s willing to do more for people, for his people, than basically anybody else is. And he’s willing to put himself second time and time and time again for his company and for his people, and we all sincerely appreciate that, and we want to return the favor to him because he treats us so well.

    “I think he genuinely enjoys bringing good things and happiness to people’s lives, and he does a great job of it. So he’s just a super special person. The world would be a worse place without Rick Hendrick in it. He’s just a great guy and somebody you will do anything for because he will treat you the same way.”

    So when it came towards choosing someone whom to look up to, I did not have to look far past Rick Hendrick in including him on the list.

    Rick, you showed so many qualities that showcase a top quality of person. Your dedication and the success of your team have shown me that hard work pays off and even though it may get hard at times, I need to keep at it. The qualities you showcased well in getting through the hard times have showed you’re a fighter and that giving up is not an option. Though the heart you have is what brings you to the front of my mind. The friendship you have shown and how much you care about others is what makes you stand above others when looking for someone to look up to.