Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 320 Cup Series races and 15 Cup Series owners and drivers championships to go with three Truck Series owners and drivers titles and one O'Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers crown. Additionally, the team has 30 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race wins, 26 Truck Series race wins, and seven ARCA Menards Series race wins.
Hendrick Motorsports fields four full-time Cup Series teams with the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1; the No. 5 for Kyle Larson, the No. 9 for Chase Elliott, the No. 24 for William Byron, and the No. 48 for Alex Bowman. The team also fields the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro team full-time for Corey Day in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. Hendrick Motorsports also fielded several trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, most recently for Elliott in 2013. The team has fielded cars in the past for many NASCAR drivers, including Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, Benny Parsons, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, and others such as Geoff Bodine, Tim Richmond, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Ricky Craven, Jerry Nadeau, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, and Kasey Kahne. Hendrick Motorsports maintains an in-house engine shop, with the team leasing some of its engines to technical partners such as Hyak Motorsports.
History
What is now Hendrick Motorsports was founded prior to the 1984 season by Rick Hendrick, a Charlotte, North Carolina–based car dealership owner who currently operates a network of dealerships called Hendrick Automotive Group. The team was formed with crew chief and car builder Harry Hyde as All-Star Racing. The team, renamed Hendrick Motorsports in 1985, was involved with the GM Goodwrench IMSA GTP Corvette and twin-turbo V6 engine development effort and competed in the IMSA GTP series from 1985 through 1988 with drivers Doc Bundy and Sarel van der Merwe. Hendrick Motorsports and GM ceased the project in 1988.Hendrick Motorsports expanded its NASCAR efforts to two full-time cars in 1986, three in 1987, and four in 2002. It was one of the first teams in NASCAR to be successful operating multiple entries, partly based on the model used at the Hendrick car dealerships. The team has also been credited for innovations in engine construction and pit crew training. In 2020, Hendrick Motorsports partnered with AdvoCare in its performance and fitness teams.
Hendrick Motorsports won its first race in 1984 at Martinsville with the No. 5 driven by Geoff Bodine. At the 2021 Coca-Cola 600, Hendrick Motorsports became the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history when it won its 269th race with the No. 5 driven by Kyle Larson. This eclipsed the record held by Petty Enterprises at 268 wins, which had held the record of the winningest team in the series since 1960.
In 2023, Hendrick worked with NASCAR, Chevrolet, and Goodyear Tires to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a modified version of the current NASCAR Cup car, in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of NASCAR.
NASCAR Cup Series
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series
Hendrick Motorsports fielded in-house entries in the Busch Series from 1984 to 1990, and again from 2000 to 2007, primarily the No. 5 entry. Following the conclusion of the 2007 racing season, Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports officially combined Xfinity Series operations. The No. 5 Chevrolets began running full-time under the JR Motorsports banner in 2008, and the team receives engines and technical support from Hendrick Motorsports, with several of its employees moving to JR Motorsports. Rick Hendrick is an equity partner in JRM and continues to be listed as car owner of the No. 5 team.Car No. 0 history
;Part-time with Tim RichmondIn 1984, the team fielded the No. 0 car for Tim Richmond at Charlotte. He started from the pole position and finished 5th.
Car No. 0 results
Car No. 5 history
;Part-timeThe No. 5 car debuted in 1985 with Brett Bodine ran twelve races. The younger Bodine brother would win three races for the team. Geoff Bodine ran four races in the No. 5 car. Bodine won the season opener Goody's 300.
In 1986, Geoff Bodine drove the No. 5 for one race at Bristol. He won the pole and finished sixteenth.
;Ricky Hendrick
File:Hendrickricky.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ricky Hendrick's No. 5 GMAC Chevrolet in 2002
The current No. 5 car debuted as the No. 14 of JG Motorsports in 2000, with Rick Hendrick's son Ricky Hendrick finishing 39th in the season finale at Homestead.
The number was switched to No. 5 when the car began competing full-time in 2002. After Ricky Hendrick was injured in a wreck at Las Vegas, Ron Hornaday Jr. took over for the next six races before Hendrick returned at Richmond. Toward the end of the season, Hendrick suddenly announced his retirement from driving due to lingering effects from the crash, but he remained as car owner until his death in 2004. David Green finished out the season for the team.
;Brian Vickers
Ricky Hendrick selected 19-year-old Brian Vickers to drive the No. 5 car in 2003. Vickers won three races and the Busch Series championship, finishing just 14 points ahead of Hendrick test driver and former No. 5 team spotter David Green.
;Kyle Busch
When Vickers moved up to the Cup Series, Kyle Busch became the No. 5 car's driver after he had run seven races the previous season. In his rookie year, Busch won five races and was runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in points. He moved up to the Cup Series after the season, but he continued to drive the No. 5 Busch Series car part-time for several more years.
;Multiple Drivers
Adrián Fernández drove the car for six races in 2005, finishing tenth at Autódromo, his only top-ten finish of the season. Hendrick development drivers Blake Feese, Boston Reid, and Kyle Krisiloff also periodically drove the No. 5 car, running a combined fifteen races. Busch, Vickers, and Jimmie Johnson ran the rest of the schedule, with Busch winning at Lowe's while also scoring one top five and two top tens and scoring a pole at Bristol while Johnson scored only one top five and a pole at Darlington while Vickers in his only start at Watkins Glen finished in third. Fernández had only one top-ten with his tenth place finish in Mexico City along with an average finish of 31.8 and had 3 DNF's. As for Feese, Reid, and Krisiloff, the three drivers driving the 5 car combined for zero top tens with the best finish being a seventeeth by Reid at Nashville along with a combined average finish of 30.5 and had a combined seven DNF's. The season was so bad, all three drivers were released and Rick Hendrick shut down his driver development program until 2008 when he merged with Dale Earnhardt Jr's team JR Motorsports. Feese continued to race sporadically in ARCA and the Truck Series before not racing again after 2011. Reid ran 21 races from 2006 to 2007 in the Truck Series. Kyle Krisiloff ran part-time in the Truck Series in 2006 for Billy Ballew Motorsports before returning to the Busch Series doing a full-time season in 2007 for Carl A. Haas Motorsports and then running 6 races for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2008 before retiring at 22 years old. All three never made a start in the Cup Series.
In 2006, Busch drove 34 of 35 races, winning at Bristol and finishing seventh in points. Justin Labonte drove for one race at Memphis.
;Part Time
In 2007, Busch ran the No. 5 on a part-time basis, sharing the ride with Mark Martin, Landon Cassill, Casey Mears, and Adrián Fernández, running a total of 26 races. The car carried a number of different sponsors including Lowe's, Delphi, Spectrum, and Hendrick Autoguard. Busch drove the car to victory lane four times in 2007, while Martin finished second twice in three races.
;JR Motorsports
The No. 5 team moved to JR Motorsports in 2008, and featured eight drivers, including Johnson and Earnhardt Jr., and four primary sponsors in its first year. In 2009, the No. 5 car ran a part-time schedule due to sponsorship limitations. Fastenal, Unilever and GoDaddy.com sponsored seven different drivers over the course of the season. A variety of drivers ran the car in subsequent NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons until it was shut down for the 2019 season.
Car No. 5 results
Car No. 15 history
;Part-timeHendrick Motorsports began competing in the 1984 debut season of the Busch Series, fielding the No. 15 car for seventeen races with sponsorship coming from Levi Garrett, with Cup Series driver Geoff Bodine running 12 of them. Bodine would score Hendrick Motorsports' first win in the Busch Series at Rockingham Speedway. Ron Bouchard, Dick Trickle, Glenn Jarrett all ran one race, while Tim Richmond ran one. In 1985, Brett Bodine ran one race in the No. 15 car. Geoff Bodine also ran one race in the No. 15. Tim Richmond ran two races in the No. 15, winning once at Charlotte. In 1986, the team ran seven races, three with Bodine and Richmond, and one with Rob Moroso. Richmond would get the team's only win of the year at Charlotte. In 1987, the team ran nine races utilizing the No. 15. Eight of them were driven by Geoff Bodine, and one with team owner Rick Hendrick. While Hendrick would DNF in his start, Bodine would once again win the season opener at Daytona. The team ran eight races as the No. 15 in 1988 with Geoff Bodine being the only driver. Bodine would win once at Darlington Raceway. In 1989, the team would only run five races, with Geoff Bodine and Ken Schrader driving. While Schrader would DNF his two starts, Bodine would once again get a single win at Darlington. In 1990, Greg Sacks drove the No. 15 once at Charlotte, He finished second. After the 1990 season, Hendrick Motorsports shut down its Busch Series operation for the time being.