Joseph Riddick "Rick" Hendrick III is an American businessman. Hendrick Motorsports, a NASCAR team, is his most well-known business venture. He is also a co-owner of JR Motorsports and the founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group, which includes more than 100 dealerships.
His team has won 273 NASCAR Cup Series races as of 2021, giving him NASCAR's winningest team owner. In addition, his team has won a total of 17 NASCAR championships (13 in the Cup Series: 7 by Jimmie Johnson, four by Jeff Gordon, and one each by Chase Elliott and Terry Labonte) and three in the Truck Series (all by Jack Sprague) (1 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Brian Vickers in 2003). Along with Richard Childress and Jack Roush, he is one of only three owners in NASCAR history to win championships in all three divisions. On March 17, 2020, Hendrick will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2017 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Hendrick started drag racing at the age of 14 in a 1931 Chevrolet he constructed himself. Hendrick won the Virginia section of the Chrysler-Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest two years later, at the age of 16, a two-part test that included a written exam and a timed hands-on diagnosis and repair of flaws on a car.
Following that, Hendrick and Mike Leith built a small used-car yard. At the age of 23, Leith, an established new car dealer, was persuaded to appoint Hendrick as the company's general sales manager. He sold his assets in 1976 to buy a franchise in Bennettsville, South Carolina. As a result, he became the United States' youngest Chevrolet dealer. Because of Hendrick's influence, sales improved, and the once struggling site became the most profitable in the region. Bennettsville's success paved the way for the Hendrick Automotive Group, with more than 100 franchises and 10,000 employees spread over 13 states. His company, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, generated more than US$3.5 billion in sales in 2009 after selling 100,000 automobiles and servicing 1.5 million and is the sixth-largest dealership in the United States.
Hendrick is also the company's chairman.
During the 1987 and 1988 Winston Cup Series, Hendrick competed in two races, finishing 33rd and 15th, respectively. In the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series, he only made one start. He was also a pit crew member for Ray Hendrick (no relation) when he raced the Flying 11 in the 1960s. Hendrick established the Hendrick Marrow Program in 1997, a non-profit that collaborates with the Be The Match Foundation to promote the National Marrow Donor Program.
Hendrick grew up on his family's farm in South Hill, Virginia, where he attended Park View High School. Hendrick was born in Warrenton, North Carolina, and raised in South Hill, Virginia.
He is the father of former NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick, who died in an aircraft crash in 2004 with other members of the Hendrick family and Hendrick Motorsports staff members.
The Gulfstream V with the tail number N500RH is his primary private jet.
Hendrick and his wife, Linda, were killed in a plane crash in Key West, Florida, on October 31, 2011, when the plane landed too long at Key West International Airport. Rick suffered three broken ribs and a shattered collarbone, while Linda sustained minor injuries.
| Birth Date: | 12 Jul, 1949 |
| Age: | 70 yrs |
| Occupations: | NASCAR team owner Racing automobile driver |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Warrenton |
| residence: | Charlotte |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | American racing driver and team owner |
| Net Worth 2021: | 1 billion |
