Today, Rick Hendrick is perhaps one of the most successful team owners in NASCAR. But long before the boardrooms and championships, his journey began far from all of this. 

Hendrick grew up on a tobacco farm in Virginia, and it is here that he learned his lesson of ‘people over money.' He eventually connected with an established dealer, Mike Leith, who offered him the position of a vice sales manager at the age of 23. However, things soon changed for Hendrick as he was offered a Chevrolet dealership. 

During this recent appearance on Cars and Culture with Jason Stein, Hendrick said, “I have to give her all the credit,” the NASCAR Hall of Famer said. “And so they offered me one in Bennettsville, South Carolina. And it had no showroom; now the rent was $1,800 a month.”

He further recalled going to the dealership for the first time: “We go down there, and I was joking, and I said, 'This is probably going to be in the middle of the bean field,' and sure enough, we get down to Bennettsville, South Carolina, and there's a big Chevy sign in the middle of a corn field, and I got cold feet, and I said, 'I'm not doing this.'" And she (Linda Hendrick) said, "You know you want to do it. We can start over. So you won't be satisfied, so let's do it.”

The Hendrickses sold everything they had back home and purchased the property. They packed up and moved two hours away from home to run the Chevrolet dealership. With this, he became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States. After he took over, the troubled location became one of the most profitable.  

This became a stepping stone for the NASCAR Hall of Famer to buy other franchises, such as Honda, BMW, Audi, just to name a few. The 76-year-old founded Hendrick Motorsports in 1984. His Hendrick Automotive Group generated over $14.5 billion in revenue last year, per Hendrickmotorsports.com.

Rick Hendrick Opens Up About His Core Principle for Success

In the aforementioned interview, he talked about his philosophy that has made his business a great success.

“We’re in the people business. I said it a million times, but people don’t care about you if they don’t think you care about them.” 

This is something that he has stuck to and is evident within the company. Jeff Gordon, who once drove for the team, has now pledged his loyalty to Hendrick by taking over the role of vice chairman and is an equity partner in the organization. 

Besides this, he also spoke about handing out health insurance and providing financial aid to families in need. For Hendrick, it has never been only about profits but also about uplifting his employees. 

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Ankita Yadav