Joseph Riddick Hendrick III (born July 12, 19491949 in Warrenton, North Carolina ), better known as Rick Hendrick, is the current owner of the American NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Marrow Program. He attended Park View High School in South Hill, Virginia, and began his career in auto racing at age 14. He is also a retired race car driver, driving in only three NASCAR races throughout the course of his NASCAR career.
Rick Hendrick was raised on his family's farm. Hendrick, at the age of 14, he began drag racing in a self built 1931 Chevrolet. Two years later, at age 16, Rick Hendrick won the Virginia division of the Chrysler-Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest, a contest for engine builders. While attending Park View High School in South Hill, Virginia, he considered being a professional baseball player. After high school, he decided to pursue a co-op work study program with North Carolina University and Westinghouse Electric Company in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Afterward, Rick Hendrick opened a small used-car lot with Mike Leith, named Hendrick Automotive Group. Leith, an established new-car dealer, was convinced to name Hendrick the general sales manager of the company, at age 23. In 1976, sold his assets to purchase a franchise in Bennettsville, South Carolina. After doing so, he became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States. Hendrick's influence increased sales to make the once troubled location become the regions most profitable. The success of Bennettsville was a precursor to the Hendrick Automotive Group, which now has 80 franchises and 6,000 employees across ten different states. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, his company had a revenue of excess of $3.5 billion in 2009, after selling 100,000 vehicles and servicing 1.5 million. Hendrick is also the chairman of the company.
Rick Hendrick drove in two races during the 1987 and 1988 Winston Cup Series, with finishes of 33rd and 15th, respectively. He also had a single start in both the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. He also had been a pit crew member for the Flying 11 that Ray Hendrick drove in the 1960s In 1997, Hendrick began the Hendrick Marrow Program, a non-profit works with the Be The Match Rick Hendrick Foundation to support the National Marrow Donor Program. It raises funds to add volunteers to the Be The Match Registry, which helps to find a marrow match for patients. It also provides assistance to recipients with uninsured transplant costs. Since the beginning, it has raised millions of dollars, 100,000 potential donors to the organization and eased the financial burden of more the 5,000 patients with grants from the Hendrick Family Fund for Patient Assistance.
Afterward, he and his wife, Linda, were honored in 1999 with the Be The Match Foundation's Leadership for the Life Award. The award recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary commitment to serve marrow transplant patients. Some of the past patients include U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, baseball great Rod Carew and former Postmaster General William J. Henderson. He takes a personal approach to the cause after being diagnosed in November 1996 with chronic myelogenous leukemia, but has been in full remission since December 1999. Hendrick also has a passion for The Hendrick Foundation for Children, a foundation that supports programs and services that benefit youngsters with illness, injury, disability or other hindrance, and was establish by his brother, John Hendrick. Governor Jim Hunt recognized Hendrick in 1996 with The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina's highest civilian honor. The award is bestowed upon citizens of the state who have a proven record of extraordinary service. Past recipients include journalist Charles Kuralt, the Rev. Billy Graham, artist Bob Timberlake and Hendrick's late father, Joe Hendrick, who was presented the award by Gov. Mike Easley in 2004.
In 1997, Rick Hendrick pled guilty to mail fraud. In the 1980s, Honda automobiles were in high demand and Honda executives allegedly solicited bribes from dealers for larger product disbursements. Hendrick admitted to giving hundreds of thousands of dollars, BMW automobiles, and houses to American Honda Motor Company executives. Hendrick was sentenced in December 1997 to a $250,000 fine, 12 months home confinement (instead of prison, due to his leukemia), three years probation, and to have no involvement with Hendrick Automotive Group or Hendrick Motorsports during his year of confinement. In December 2000, Hendrick received a full pardon from President Bill Clinton.
In the late 1970s Rick Hendrick founded a drag boat racing team that won three consecutive championships, as well as setting a world record of 222.2 MPH with Nitro Fever. He then moved to the NASCAR Model Sportsman Series (now Nationwide Series), which he earned one victory with Dale Earnhardt at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In 1984, he founded All-Star Racing (now Hendrick Motorsports). With five full-time employees and 5,000 square feet of work space, he managed to field one NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) team. With Geoff Bodine the driver, his team managed to race in all 30 races to finish ninth in the final standings with three win and pole positions. Throughout his career as a team owner, Hendrick has managed to win 14 Drivers' championships (10 Sprint Cup Series, 1 Nationwide Series, and three Camping World Truck Series), 242 race wins (194 Sprint Cup Series, 23 Nationwide Series, and 25 Truck Series), and 230 pole positions (174 Sprint Cup Series, 35 Nationwide Series, and 21 Truck Series).
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