hendrick motorsports

DALLAS -- Former champions and famous names fill the roll call of drivers who have raced the No. 88 in NASCAR's history. This catalogue of speed includes Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker. The list also features Ralph Earnhardt.

And soon it will feature his grandson, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Car owner Rick Hendrick and Earnhardt Jr. announced Wednesday that Hendrick Motorsports' newest member will drive a No. 88 car sponsored by Mountain Dew Amp energy drink and the National Guard next season.

So ends a four-month guessing game that started when an unshaven and unkempt Earnhardt said he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. -- his only home since moving to Cup racing in 1999 -- after this season.

Yet this could be only the beginning for Earnhardt. His fan base dominates the sport -- nearly one-third of all NASCAR merchandise sold features his name, image or number -- and could grow larger. With Earnhardt no longer saddled by a sponsor that is an alcoholic beverage and limits marketing to teens, Junior Nation could become more crowded and more youthful.

"I think you could see a shift of existing younger NASCAR fans moving to Junior," said Steve Lauletta, president of Chip Ganassi Racing and a former sports marketing executive for Miller Brewing Co.

Car owner Roger Penske said of Earnhardt: "I think he can only be bigger."

Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Earnhardt's sister and business manager, said young fans now will be able to connect better to her brother because more items will be available for them to buy.

While teenager loyalty can be fickle, the combination of Earnhardt in a Hendrick car might increase his power if he starts winning.

Earnhardt remains the sport's most popular driver, although he's in the longest losing streak of his career and missed the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the second time in three years.

"Put some wins and championships on the resume, and you'll see how much bigger he gets with this sponsor alignment," said Mark Dyer, president of Motorsports Authentics, a collectibles company that will produce many of Earnhardt's souvenir items.

Future teammate Jeff Gordon has joked that should Earnhardt win a series title, "it's over" as far as souvenir sales for other drivers. Dawn Hudson, president of Pepsi-Cola North America, wants that domination. She looks for Earnhardt to raise Amp's profile in a congested energy drink market that features a similar Pepsi product endorsed by Gordon.

While some might perceive energy drinks as only for teenagers or college students cramming for tests, Hudson said Earnhardt, 32, will fit nicely in promoting the energy drink. Any doubts, and she looks at Earnhardt's fan base.

"You don't get 25 percent of the NASCAR fans without having a broad reach," she said.

Details of how the company will market Earnhardt have not been completed, Hudson said, but he'll be quite visible in commercials, online and other promotions.

"They're going to spend a lot of money activating and marketing the product and the relations that they have with Dale," Earnhardt Elledge said. "I'd rather them have more marketing dollars to put behind what they do than the sponsorship aspect of it because that's what's really important to connecting to our fans and to the consumers."

That connection includes the car number. Although Earnhardt wanted to take the No. 8 with him to Hendrick Motorsports, car owner Teresa Earnhardt kept it for Dale Earnhardt Inc.

That forced Earnhardt Jr. to search for a new number. He and Hendrick officials considered any number with an 8 in it. He had raced the No. 81 in the Busch series and that might have been Earnhardt's number, but a clothing business is called Company 81 and there were concerns about licensing rights.

The No. 28 also was considered. It hasn't been used this season but is assigned to Robert Yates Racing. Yates wanted to keep it but offered the 88, which is being used by the team for Ricky Rudd.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who runs the No. 8 because his grandfather used that number, didn't realize that Ralph Earnhardt also raced the 88 once - in the 1957 Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway for Petty Enterprises.

That made the number more appealing to Earnhardt.

"Numbers have personalities, and numbers do talk," he said as he leaned against his green-and-white Mountain Dew Amp car. "Numbers do kind of reach out and grab you."

This one grabbed him. Now he'll try to grab more of the consumer market.

Check out Dustin Long's blog, NASCAR Chase, for updates.

"Budweiser has a long and storied history with NASCAR and some of its most successful drivers. We're excited about Kasey's ability to add to that outstanding lineage," said Tony Ponturo, vice president, global media and sports marketing, Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

Bud became the most valuable sponsorship in NASCAR when it teamed with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2000. But Earnhardt is leaving DEI for Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season, and he'll announce a new sponsor Wednesday in Dallas.

"You can't compare me to Dale Jr. You can't compare anybody to Dale Jr.," Kahne said. "That guy is in a league of his own. But as far as us, we can do everything possible to get better and bigger because of Budweiser than I've been before."

Budweiser had been in discussions with majority team owner George Gillett about sponsoring his Liverpool soccer team, but the deal didn't work out. When Gillett bought majority ownership of Evernham's race team this summer, the discussions resumed about a partnership and a deal was made to sponsor Kahne's No. 9.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. set to come on board at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, he'll join an already incredibly successful program in which Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have combined to win five Cup championships and 108 races going into Sunday's event at Dover. Can it work? Will there simply be too many roosters in the hen house?

Hendrick has a long history of mixing strong personalities. The outspoken Northerner Geoffrey Bodine was already a fixture at Hendrick Motorsports in the late 1980s when not one, but two outspoken characters joined the organization. Tim Richmond dominated the sport in 1986, a year before Darrell Waltrip entered the picture.




He has to.

"Junior's got teammates now, so it's not like he's coming from a one-man operation to something that's any different," Hendrick said at his sprawling complex a couple of miles from Lowe's Motor Speedway. "He made the decision to make a change to try to better his career.

"That puts a lot of pressure on us. We've won before and we want to see him win. We're going to do everything in our power to put the best stuff around him, just like we do with every driver that's here, to make him more successful."

This, though, seems different, a much more difficult undertaking. Gordon and Johnson are Cup champions, and Earnhardt is without question the sport's most popular driver. It's a move that gives Hendrick Motorsports three of the four top names in all of NASCAR. Sign Tony Stewart -- there's a thought that boggles the imagination -- and it'd be a clean sweep.

Still, Hendrick just doesn't seem all that concerned about making things work with Junior. See, Hendrick looks at it this way. Gordon and Johnson both race to win and they're teammates, so why not race to race to win against Junior as a teammate?

"I think you treat each individual differently," Hendrick said. "You try to create a relationship. You cannot create respect. Everybody has somebody they've got to answer to. I have to answer to sponsors, and I have to answer to fans. I think the key to our success is everybody working together."
More than three months after he said he would drive a racecar for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced yesterday that his car would carry No. 88 and would be sponsored by Amp Energy Drink and the National Guard.

"I never thought a car number would create as much excitement as it did in this situation," said Rick Hendrick, Earnhardt's future boss.

Earnhardt's announcement, made at a news conference at the Dallas Convention Center and carried live by the Speed Network, was probably the most eagerly awaited moment of the Nextel Cup season. Almost anything Earnhardt plugs tends to sell.

Earnhardt, whose current No. 8 car is sponsored by Budweiser, remains the series's most popular and marketable driver, even though he did not qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup this year, his last with Dale Earnhardt Inc., a company started by his father, the seven-time series champion Dale Earnhardt Sr.

"The whole retail industry was literally waiting down to the minute to the point when his new car became available," Mark Dyer, the president and chief executive of Motorsports Authentics, a Nascar-licensed merchandiser, said in a telephone interview.

"I think he's in the absolute top echelon of American sports celebrities. Certainly, it helps that he's the son of a real American icon, but he stands on his own as a sports identity."

Hendrick Motorsports announced July 13 that Anheuser-Busch, which makes Budweiser, would not continue to sponsor Earnhardt's car. On Aug. 15, Hendrick said Earnhardt would not continue to drive the No. 8 car.

PepsiCo, which manufactures Amp Energy Drink, has been a sponsor of Hendrick's cars for 12 years. Earnhardt's cars will also carry the logo of Mountain Dew, a PepsiCo product that has been a Nascar sponsor for almost 50 years.

Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, the director of the National Guard, said that sponsoring Earnhardt's car made business sense, because stock-car racing has a wide appeal to National Guard members ― and American men and women who may sign up.

The pursuit of a number for Earnhardt became the subject of great intrigue. Earnhardt wanted to continue driving the No. 8 car, but Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Sr.'s widow, did not want to part with the number. He looked for a number with an 8 in it.

Hendrick got No. 88 from Robert Yates Racing. Kelly Earnhardt, Dale Jr.'s sister, first inquired about No. 28, which Yates was not using. Instead, Yates transferred No. 88, a number used by Earnhardt's grandfather Ralph to Hendrick.

"Ralph Earnhardt drove the No. 88 Olds in 1957, and because of this number's history with the Earnhardt family, I felt car No. 88 should continue with Dale Earnhardt Jr.," Robert Yates said in a statement.

Drivers in the No. 88 car have won 65 races at Nascar's top level, compared with 38 for the No. 8. Included in a long list of No. 88 drivers are such stars as Ricky Rudd, Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Fireball Roberts and Darrell Waltrip.

"I like the fact that the number has some history," Earnhardt said.

The No. 8 car will be sponsored by the United States Army next year and will be driven by Mark Martin and Aric Almirola.

Hendrick Motorsports is a group of NASCAR racing teams started by Rick Hendrick in 1984 under the name "All Star Racing", racing only Chevrolets, racing in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series circuits. Hendrick Motorsports has garnered six Cup Series championships, three Craftsman Truck Series titles, and one Busch Series crown, making it one of stock-car racing's premier organizations.

All Hendrick race cars are constructed start-to-finish at the 62 acre (250,000 m2) complex in Concord, North Carolina, and more than 700 engines are built or re-built on-site each year, with the team leasing some of those to other NASCAR outfits.

Hendrick Motorsports employs over 400 people, and day-to-day activities include management of the company's website, its 15,000 square foot (1,400 m2) museum and team store, marketing, public relations, sponsor services, licensing, show cars, and merchandising
Hendrick Motorsports originally debuted in 1984 with the #5 Northwestern Security Life Chevy Monte Carlo, driven by Geoff Bodine. Running all 30 races, Bodine and the team won three times and finished 9th in points that year. They improved in 1985, finishing 5th in points despite not winning a single race in a car sponsored by Levi Garrett. The team also briefly became a two-car team when Dick Brooks drove the #1 Exxon Chevy at Charlotte Motor Speedway and finished 10th.

Moving to a multi-car team full-time in 1986, Bodine won twice and posted an eighth place finish in the points standings. His younger brother, Brett, raced as a teammate to him at the World 600 that year, finishing 17th. Bodine went winless again in 1987, finishing 13th in points. Bodine won one race apiece over the next two years, before leaving for Junior Johnson in 1990. Ricky Rudd took his place, winning once and finishing 7th in points. For 1991, the team received sponsorship from Tide as part of the car's merger with Darrell Waltrip's old team. Winning one race that year, Rudd finished a career high second in the points standings. The most notorious part of that year was at Sears Point Raceway, when on the final lap, second-place Rudd spun out leader Davey Allison on the last turn and went on to win. NASCAR penalized the team for rough driving and awarded Allison the win. Rudd kept his streak of one win a year over the next two years, then left to form his own team, taking Tide with him.

His replacement was 1984 Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte. The car received sponsorship from Kellogg's. Labonte won three races each in 1994 and 1995, and defeated teammate Jeff Gordon for the 1996 Winston Cup championship by 37 points. After that, Labonte won four races from 1997-1999. 2000 was a very difficult year for the team as two long streaks that defined Labonte's career came to an end. In the Pepsi 400, Labonte crashed his car and broke his leg. At first, it appeared that Labonte could be able to drive a couple of laps in the start of the race to earn points, but after an accident at New Hampshire International Speedway damaged his inner ear, Labonte was not capable of driving, and he ended up missing two races, bringing his streak of most consecutive races to an abrupt end. Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday subbed for Labonte. The other streak broken was his 6-year winning streak, as he failed to visit Victory Lane at all that year.

After a couple of low-key years, Labonte finished 10th in the points standings In 2003, when he also won a pole at Richmond International Raceway in the spring event. More importantly, Labonte finally revisited victory lane after a 4-year drought, winning what turned out to be the final Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The already-popular victory became even more memorable when the flagman dropped the checkered flag on the racetrack for Labonte to wave around in his victory lap. After slipping to 26th in points in 2004, Labonte announced his semi-retirement. He would drive a limited schedule for two years before retiring officially after 2006. Hendrick tabbed Kyle Busch as his replacement. So far, Busch has one pole position, six top-5s, and nine top-10 finishes to his credit, and won the battle for NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year. Recently, he took the checkered flag for the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway for his first win, and in doing so became the youngest driver to ever win a Nextel Cup race at the age of 20 years, 4 months, and 2 days, beating the old record held by Donald Thomas by 4 days. Most recently, during 2006, Kyle Busch has won once (New England 300) and has made it into the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Kyle however struggled in his first Chase appearance and finished 10th in points in 2006. For 2007, Kyle Busch currently has one victory this year at the Food City 500, the inaugural race for the Car of Tomorrow. On June 13th, 2007 Hendrick announced that Kyle Busch will not return to drive the #5 car in 2008. On September 4, 2007 it was announced Casey Mears will drive the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series.


[edit] Car #17 History
After Darrell Waltrip decided he wanted to leave Junior Johnson's team to discontinue his relationship with Budweiser, he joined Hendrick Motorsports with Tide as his sponsor, and what would become his most recognized car number of his career, 17. The team stayed constant and consistent in all three years of it's existance. This would prove most famous in the 1989 Daytona 500 as Waltrip finally won the race that had eluded him for so many years. At the end of the 1990 season, Waltrip decided he wanted to start his own team, so he took the # 17 with him, and the Hendrick team virtually folded. The Tide sponsorship was moved to the flagship Hendrick team # 5 with Ricky Rudd as the driver and remained there until the end of the 1993 season. Tide and Rudd decided to leave to Rudd's own team, Rudd Performance Motorsports at the start of the 1994 season, and would remain with Rudd until the end of the 1999 season.


[edit] Car #24 History
During its 13-year history, the #24 car has been driven only by Jeff Gordon and has only been sponsored by DuPont as a main sponsor and Pepsi for The Pepsi 400 & one of the two Talladega races each year. Gordon and DuPont debuted in the 1992 Hooters 500, qualifying 21st and finishing 31st following a crash. Almost symbolically, that race was the last for 7-time champion Richard Petty. The team went full-time in 1993, armed with crew chief Ray Evernham. Gordon won the pole position at the fall race at Lowe's, had eleven top-10s, and finished 14th in points, while also winning rookie of the year honors.

In 1994, Gordon won his first career race at the Coca-Cola 600 and also won the inaugural Brickyard 400. When that season was completed Gordon improved to eighth in the points. Despite all of this, Gordon struggled with DNF's, mostly due to crashes. Gordon would go on to win the 1995 Winston Cup Championship, winning seven races. He followed that up with ten more wins in 1996, but finished runner-up to teammate Terry Labonte for the championship. However in this year, Gordon won at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the last year and last time that NASCAR would ever visit to the track that had been used for races for the past 50 years.

After receiving sponsorship from Pepsi instead of Coca-Cola beginning in 1997 Gordon won back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998, tying Richard Petty's modern era record for most victories in a season with 13 in the latter year. But 1999 marked the one of the toughest seasons he ever had to endure. He started out in typical style, winning the Daytona 500, but the team struggled with consistency, and would seemingly have a great finish one week, then would have DNF's or other struggles the following week. In September of that year, long-time crew chief Ray Evernham, who had guided Gordon to so many victories and championships, shocked the sport when he announced he was leaving the team to help develop Dodge's return to NASCAR. He was replaced by Brian Whitesell. To the surprise of many, Gordon won the first two races after Evernham's departure at Martinsville and Charlotte. At the end of the season, Gordon, in addition to signing a lifetime contract with the team that gave him part ownership, had seven victories and was 6th in points. In addition to his post-Evernham victories, Gordon's most impressive win came at Infineon, when he was able to complete the gruelling track despite feeling quite ill.

For 2000, Whitesell moved to a new position with the organization, and he was replaced by the long-time crew chief for Petty Enterprises, Robbie Loomis. The chemistry was not evident at first, as Gordon went winless for a long time before picking up his 50th career victory at Talladega. Gordon won two more races that season and was 9th in points at the end. He bounced back in 2001, when he picked up 7 victories and won his 4th championship. 2002 brought about some big changes as he not only became car-owner for Jimmie Johnson's team, but ended up filing for divorce from his wife Brooke. He went winless the entire season until the Sharpie 500 at Bristol in August. Despite just three wins, he finished 4th in points.

In 2004, Gordon stayed in the Top 5 in points for nearly the entire year. By the time the Chase for the Cup started, he had not only won 5 races, but taken the lead away from teammate Jimmie Johnson. However, Gordon did not finish as high in as many races as he had before the Chase, and fell behind Johnson and Kurt Busch by the season finale Ford 400. Despite finishing 3rd in the race, Busch won the championship by 16 points over him. Johnson also finished 8 points ahead of Gordon in the season standings, placing him in third. With a fast start in 2005, it looked like he would have another successful season, as Gordon won three of the first nine races of the season. Soon, though, his season would fall into a downward spiral as he was caught in a bad and possibly costly slump. At one point, the four-time champion finished 30th or lower six out of eight races, and he dropped to 15th in the points standings. Gordon would be unable to make up this deficit before the cutoff point for The Chase, the first time in his NASCAR Cup career where he was not at least eligible to win the trophy. he did, however, finish 11th in the final standings which was worth $1,000,000 and a trip to appear at the awards banquet in New York. 2006 was Gordon's comeback year. He won 2 races in the summer portion of the season by winning the SaveMart 350 at Infineon and the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland. It was this race at Chicago where Jeff Gordon seemed to have hit the right setup in his intermediate program. This was good because it was the poor showings at the intermediate tracks in 2005 that really affected Gordon's season. Jeff would go on and make it into the chase later in the year. However, he had 3 straight DNF's. A fuel-pump broke at Kansas, he was caught up in The Big One at Talladega, and he blew a motor at Lowe's, thus ultimately ending his chances for the championship. However, Gordon did go on to notch a top 10 finish in all the remaining races except the season-finale at Homestead, where he finished 24th due to him being more focused to helping his teammate Jimmie Johnson win the championship. Jeff Gordon finished 2006 off with two poles, two wins, and finishing the year 6th in the points.


[edit] Car #44 History
The #44 car debuted in 2003 as #60 with Haas Automation as sponsor, and David Green driving. The car was originally formed as a partnership with Gene Haas and his Haas CNC Racing team, but the team evolved into Hendrick's R & D team. It debuted at the Pepsi 400, qualifying 21st and finishing 32nd. Green ran one more race that year, before Brian Vickers ran it at the fall Charlotte race.

Kyle Busch took it over the following season, this time as the #84 CarQuest Chevy. He made his debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying 18th but finishing 41st after being involved in an accident on lap 12. Despite failing to qualify for several attempts, he made five more starts that year, his best finish was 24th at California.

In 2005, Busch and Terry Labonte switched rides, with Busch moving to the #5 and Labonte moving to Busch's old ride, which changed its number to 44. Sponsored by Kellogg's and Pizza Hut, Labonte was to drive the car in a limited schedule over the next two years before retiring. He stayed with the team much of the season until Jason Leffler was released by Joe Gibbs Racing mid-season, and he agreed to drive the #11 FedEx Chevrolet as part of a three-driver group. Labonte split his 2006 season between the #44 car and Hall of Fame Racing's #96 car, as they were a new team without any owner's points. The # 44 is now used by Dale Jarrett on his Toyota Camry sponsored by UPS.


[edit] Car #48 History
The #48 car (with Gordon listed as its owner) began in 2001 when Hendrick signed Jimmie Johnson to drive a car. At the time Johnson was a second-year Busch Series driver driving for an underfunded team. He made his debut at the fall race at Lowe's in the #48 Lowe's Chevy, qualifying 15th and finished 39th after crashing on lap 193. After two more races, Johnson moved full time in 2002, winning 3 times and runner up to Ryan Newman for Rookie of the Year, and became the first rookie to ever lead the points standings. He won three more races in 2003 and finished second to Matt Kenseth in the championship standings.

Johnson led most of the 2004 season's points, but suffered bad luck before the Chase for the Cup, falling to second behind Jeff Gordon. After falling to 9th during the Chase, he rebounded with four wins in five races, vaulting him up to 2nd. Despite this, he would lose the championship by 8 points to Kurt Busch in the closest final championship margin in NEXTEL Cup history.

Johnson had led most of the 2005 season, but lost the points lead to Tony Stewart after the Brickyard 400 when he suffered a hard crash. He won four races this year in 2005 and finished fifth in points. On February 19, 2006, Johnson went on to win his 1st Daytona 500, while his crew chief Chad Knaus was serving a 4-race suspension for rules infractions. Jimmie would go on to win the Aaron's 499 and the Brickyard 400 as well and cap it off with his first Nextel Cup Championship in 2006, the first driver to ever accomplish all three in the same year.


[edit] Car #88 History

The #25 car in 2004, then driven by Brian VickersCar #88 was owned for many years by Hendrick's father, the late Joe Hendrick. It debuted as the #25 in 1986 with Folgers sponsorship and Tim Richmond driving. Richmond, who was teamed with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde, won 7 times that year and finished 3rd in points. He missed the beginning of the 1987 season due to AIDS, but he claimed it was pneumonia. Benny Parsons and Rick Hendrick himself filled in. Richmond returned midway through the season, and won twice, but it was obvious he wasn't going to get better anytime soon.

For 1988, Ken Schrader took over the ride. He won two pole positions, won the Talladega DieHard 500, and finished 5th in the points. He won 4 more poles in 1989, and picked up a victory at the fall race at Charlotte. He didn't win in 1990, but he won the pole for the Daytona 500 for the third year in a row. He won two more races in 1991, and finished 9th in points. His only highlight after that was a career-best 4th in points in 1994. After that year, Budweiser replaced Kodiak as the sponsor. After 1996, Schrader left the team, and was replaced by Ricky Craven. He missed two races in 1997 after suffering a concussion at Texas. He would be filled in by Jack Sprague and Todd Bodine. Despite this he won the Winston Open and finished 19th in points.In 1998 the cars number was changed to 50 in honor of NASCARS 50th season.Shortly after the season started, he realized he returned to the sport too soon when he was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome. He sat out several races with Randy LaJoie and Wally Dallenbach Jr. filling in. He turned at his home track at New Hampshire and won the pole, but he struggled, and was soon out of the car. Dallenbach replaced him full time.

Dallenbach had a career year in 1999, putting together 6-top finishes and was 18th in points at the end of the year. But early in 1999, Hendrick tabbed Jerry Nadeau to drive the car, with Michael Holigan Homes as sponsor. Nadeau had an impressive year, finishing 20th in points, posting 5 top-10s, and winning the season-ending race at Atlanta. He had ten top-10 finishes and improved three positions in points the next year, this time with the UAW-Delphi sponsorship. After 11 races in 2002, he was replaced by Joe Nemechek who posted three top-five finishes. Nemechek won at Richmond in 2003, before leaving for MB2/MBV Motorsports at the end of the year.

Rookie Brian Vickers took over the next season getting sponsorship from GMAC and Ditech. He was the pick by many to win Rookie of the Year honors, but finished third to Brendan Gaughan,and Kasey Kahne. Vickers earned two poles and finished 25th in points. During the year, "Papa" Joe died, to the sadness of many fans. Vickers had come close to winning several times in 2005, and finished 17th in points.

On June 9, 2006 Hendrick Motorsports announced Casey Mears of Chip Ganassi Racing will take the spot of Vickers in 2007. Later Vickers collected his first career win in the 25 at Talladega, but accidentally wrecked teammate Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the process.


The 2008 paint schemes for the 88 car.Beginning in 2007, the Army National Guard joined forces with longtime Hendrick Motorsports partner GMAC to sponsor the No. 25 Chevrolet, driven by Casey Mears. On May 27, 2007, Mears piloted the #25 to his first career Nextel Cup win at Charlotte in the Coca Cola 600. This car will change to the #88 and will be driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2008 with sponsorship from Mountain Dew & Army National Guard.


[edit] Other Car History
Jeff Purvis drove a fourth Hendrick car in the NAPA 500 at Atlanta, the 58 car, to help ensure Hendrick Motorsports first championship in 1995, as Jeff Gordon only had to not finish in last place to secure a championship that year.

Al Unser Jr. also drove a fourth Hendrick Motorsports entry in the 1993 Daytona 500, the 46 car, sponsored by Valvoline. The 1992 Indianapolis 500 winner was running in the top 10 with less than 100 miles to go when he crashed his #46 Valvoline Chevrolet with the #90 of Bobby Hillin Jr. and polesitter Kyle Petty's Mello Yello-sponsored #42.

On June 13, 2007, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced he would join Hendrick Motorsports starting in the 2008 season. It was announced on September 14,2007,Dale Jr. will drive the #88 for HMS in 2008. It has been confirmed that Budweiser will not be following Earnhardt Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports; Team owner Rick Hendrick cites "existing sponsorhips" as the primary reason that Budweiser will not be sponsoring Earnhardt's car. [1]


[edit] Busch Series

[edit] Car #5 history
The #5 car was purchased as the #24 from JG Motorsports and began competing in 2001 as the Hendrick #24 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet with Ricky Hendrick driving. Hendrick made three starts in the car, his best finish coming at Kentucky Speedway, when he finished 15th. He and truck series teammate Jack Sprague moved up to the Busch Series full-time. Sprague drove the #24 NetZero Chevy full-time, picking up a win at Nashville Superspeedway and briefly leading the points standing before finishing 5th. Hendrick drove the #5 car but was injured early in a wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ron Hornaday would take over for him for the next six races, before Hendrick returned at Richmond. Towards the end of the season, Hendrick suddenly announced his retirement from driving, but would remain on board as a team co-owner until his 2004 death. David Green and Ward Burton finished out the season for the team.

The 24 car was sold to Haas CNC Racing, and Brian Vickers was hired to drive the 5 car. He won three races and the Busch Series championship. When he moved up to NEXTEL Cup, Kyle Busch was hired as the team's new driver. In his rookie year, he won five races and was runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in points. He moved up to Cup as well after the season, but he continued to drive the 5 part-time. Mexican driver Adrian Fernández drove the car in six races, finishing tenth at Mexico City, but did not have another top-ten finish that season. Hendrick development drivers Blake Feese, Boston Reid, and Kyle Krisiloff also drove the car, running a total of eighteen races with best finishes of twenty-third, seventeenth, and nineteenth, respectively. Busch and Jimmie Johnson ran the rest of the schedule with Busch winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He drove 30 races the in 2006, winning at Bristol and finishing seventh in points. He skipped the race at Memphis Motorsports Park, being replaced by Justin Labonte for that race.

In 2007, Busch and Mark Martin are sharing the #5 on a part-time basis.

Following the 2007 season, this team will be folded into JR Motorsports, with the team being based out of that garage.


[edit] Car #24/57 history
The 24 car began racing in 2005 as the #57. The number came from the sponsorship of Heinz, and their 57 varieties. Brian Vickers debuted the car at Darlington with Pizza Hut/Ore-Ida sponsorship. He qualified second but finished forty-third after an early wreck. His best finish in the car came at Dover, where he finished fifth. Kyle Busch drove the car in an additional four races, finishing in the top-five once. Boston Reid also drove the car once at IRP, finishing 23rd. Vickers drove the car in eight races, not finishing any higher than 23rd. Adrian Fernandez drove at Mexico City and Watkins Glen, finishing twelfth and seventeenth, respectively. In 2006 Brian Vickers ran eight races and the #57 had a new part time sponsor in Mountain Dew with the full time sponsor remaining Ore-Ida for the other five races. Mountain Dew was the full time sponsor for three races in 2006 at Fontana, Darlington and Michigan with 9th, 12th, and 16th the finishes respectively. Vickers best finish in 2006 was a second at Daytona in July.

After Vickers' departure from Hendrick Motorsports, the team changed back to the 24 with Casey Mears and the U.S. National Guard coming on board for a limited schedule and he is living up to the reputation of the 24 and consistently finishing in the top 10. Adrian Fernandez, Jimmie Johnson, and Hendrick development driver Landon Cassil will also run part-time.


[edit] Car #48 history
The 48 car made its debut in the Busch Series in 2004 at Lowe's, running a one-race deal with sponsorship from SpongeBob SquarePants. Jimmie Johnson drove it to a third place finish. He drove the car for five races in 2005, winning a pole at Lowe's. In 2006, he did not finish higher than seventh. Jimmie Johnson drove the 48 car in the CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the first Busch race of 2007 for Johnson.


[edit] Craftsman Truck Series

[edit] Truck #17 history
The 17 Craftsman Truck Series team made its debut in 2000 with Ricky Hendrick driving with GMAC/Quaker State sponsorship. He made six races that season and finished in the top-ten four times. In 2001, Hendrick won his only career Truck race at Kansas Speedway and finished sixth in points, runner-up to Travis Kvapil for Rookie of the Year honors. The team did not run after 2001.


[edit] Truck #24 history
The 24 truck debuted with the Truck Series in 1995 with Scott Lagasse driving and DuPont sponsoring. Lagasse posted two top-fives and finished ninth in the standings. The team also fielded the 25 Budweiser Chevrolet part-time with Hendrick Sr. and Roger Mears driving. Midway through the season, Jack Sprague came on board to finish out the season for the team, winning a pole at Phoenix International Raceway. In 1996, he moved to the 24 full-time with Quaker State sponsoring. He won five races and was second in the points. The following season, he won three times and clinched his first NASCAR championship.

The team lost the Quaker State sponsorship after 1997, but signed GMAC Financial as a sponsor after a one-race deal with Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce. He won an additional five races, but lost the championship by three points. In 1999, Sprague won the championship again but fell to fifth in 2000. In 2001, NetZero came on board as the team's sponsor, and Sprague won his third championship. After Sprague moved to the Busch Series, Ron Hornaday drove the 24 in a one-race deal at Daytona, finishing twelfth. The team closed after that race to focus on its Busch Series efforts.


[edit] Aviation Tragedy
Main article: October 2004 Martinsville plane crash
On October 24, 2004, ten people associated with Hendrick Motorsports lost their lives in a plane crash while en route from Concord, North Carolina, to a small airport near the Martinsville Speedway. The plane crashed in heavy fog into Bull Mountain, seven miles from the Blue Ridge Regional Airport in Stuart, Virginia. While NASCAR officials learned of the crash during that day's Subway 500 race in Martinsville, Virginia, they withheld that information from drivers until the end of the race, which was won by Hendrick driver Jimmie Johnson.

All ten aboard the Beechcraft King Air 200 died:

John Hendrick, president of Hendrick Motorsports; Rick Hendrick's brother
Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendrick's son
Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick, John Hendrick's twin daughters
Jeff Turner, general manager of Hendrick Motorsports
Randy Dorton, chief engine builder
Joe Jackson, DuPont executive
Scott Lathram, pilot for NASCAR driver Tony Stewart
pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison
For the balance of the 2004 season, all of the Hendrick Motorsports cars and the #0 Haas CNC Racing car showed pictures of the ten Hendrick members on the hood along with the phrase "Always in our hearts".


In Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt, Hendrick has drivers with three very separate and very distinct personalities. Gordon is Madison Avenue refined, Earnhardt is the rock star and Johnson the laid-back Californian.

Hendrick knows what he has to work with. He's not about to cram Junior into a box, to try to conform him into whatever the public's perception of what a Hendrick Motorsports driver should be. Hendrick's job is to give the superstar driver everything he needs to fulfill the expectations of Junior Nation.

"I'm not going to try to change Junior's personality," Hendrick said. "What's made him popular is who he is. We're just going to try to surround him with good stuff and try to help him get to the level he wants to get to. The same with Gordon and Johnson. All of our guys are a little different. They've got their own quirks, and you adjust to that.

"You're not going to change them, and you don't want to. Each one's a brand all his own. Jimmie and Jeff have a lot of respect for Junior. He has respect for them, and Casey's friends with all of them. I think it's going to do well."

Long ago, Hendrick learned a valuable lesson as a NASCAR team owner. He can't stand pat, resting on the laurels of the success Hendrick Motorsports has enjoyed in the past. The championships and races that the team has won in the past won't mean a thing when Junior straps into a Hendrick Motorsports entry for the first time.

Hendrick has to keep moving forward, for his sake. And Junior's, Gordon's, Johnson's and Mears'.

"Most businesses I've ever been involved in, once you get it built, at some point you get to be on cruise control," Hendrick said. "You're able to sit back and watch it work. In this [racing] business, you're only as good as you were yesterday, the last race.

"The lesson is, you've got to work. You've got to come in every single day committed to being better. You can't rest on yesterday, and you can't rest on the championship you won or even the race you won last weekend because this weekend is totally different."