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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
SPENCER: The Hendrick Glue
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick is the glue that holds Hendrick Motorsports together...
Jimmy Spencer  |  Posted October 22, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)
There’s a reason Jimmie Johnson is speeding toward an unprecedented fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

It’s the same reason Jeff Gordon dominated the sport in the mid-to-late ‘90s and the same reason that, while all other Cup organizations have “down years,” Hendrick Motorsports’ worst seasons aren’t nearly as bad.

That reason is Rick Hendrick.

The man is the glue that holds Hendrick Motorsports together and has elevated it to a level that is head-and-shoulders above everyone else at the moment.

Richard Childress Racing is mired in the biggest slump the organization has seen in years, winless to-date this season after placing three teams in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2008. Roush Fenway Racing won the most races of any organization last year but hasn’t won since Matt Kenseth’s consecutive wins opened the season in February. Carl Edwards had the most victories last season but can’t hit the broad side of a barn this year.

Even Joe Gibbs Racing isn’t as strong as we’re accustomed to seeing them. But Hendrick Motorsports? Overall, their downturn consisted of Jeff Gordon missing the Chase in 2005, and while a four-time champ missing the playoffs is certainly a punch to the gut, he still won four races that year and finished 11th in points while teammate Johnson clocked in fifth with four victories.

But Gordon’s team went to work and fixed what ailed them – their mile-and-a-half speedway program. They didn’t continue to falter and fall completely off the map like some of the other mega teams have done in recent years.

This success and determination all goes back to Hendrick and the people he has in place. He makes the right decisions within the company and isn’t afraid to make changes. Hendrick let Brian Vickers and Casey Mears go because they weren’t performing behind the wheel. He paired Alan Gustafson, a very young crew chief, with veteran Mark Martin and they’ve produced amazing results. Hendrick seems to have the Midas touch.

The depth within Hendrick Motorsports is equally impressive. Ray Evernham and Jeff Gordon catapulted the No. 24 team to greatness in the ‘90s. Evernham revolutionized the sport from a crew chief’s standpoint by employing various strategies from two-tire stops to fuel mileage gambles when many others weren’t willing to take that risk, so when he announced his departure to start his own team, many of us thought the No. 24 team would stumble, but they never missed a beat.

We all remember the horrible day five years ago when a Hendrick Motorsports plane went down en route to Martinsville race morning, killing Hendrick’s son Ricky; brother John, who was president of Hendrick Motorsports; two nieces; Jeff Turner, the team’s general manager; and head engine builder Randy Dorton, among others. It was a horrible tragedy within the family and racing community, but strictly from a business standpoint, the company kept chugging right along because the depth of personnel from the front office to the crew chiefs to the engine department is astounding.


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Jimmy Spencer

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