Rick Hendrick

Born: July 12, 1949
Hometown: Palmer Springs, Va.
Competed: 1984-Present
Starts: 2,617
Wins: 183
* Starts, wins as a car owner through July 26, 2009

Career Highlights
The founder and owner of Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick recently celebrated his 25th anniversary as a team owner. His organization is recognized as one of NASCAR's most successful. A longtime racing enthusiast and driver himself, Hendrick owned a championship drag racing boat team before founding "All-Star Racing," the team that would evolve into Hendrick Motorsports, in 1984. Hendrick's current Cup Series stable includes drivers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin.

Hendrick Motorsports owns eight Cup Series car owner championships titles -- four with Gordon, three with Johnson and one with Terry Labonte. Hendrick also has 11 total NASCAR national-series, car-owner championships, tied with Richard Childress for the most in history. Gordon and Labonte combined to win an unprecedented four consecutive titles from 1995-98. Gordon's four titles rank third on NASCAR's all-time list.

Some of NASCAR's most prominent drivers have driven for Hendrick. Geoffrey Bodine was the first, snaring the organization's first victory on April 29, 1984, at Martinsville Speedway. The late Tim Richmond, three-time series champion Darrell Waltrip and the late Benny Parsons, the 1973 series champion, also are Hendrick alumni. Ricky Craven, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, Joe Nemechek and Kyle Busch are other well-known drivers who have driven for Hendrick.

Off-track, Hendrick is active in promoting awareness for leukemia research. He successfully battled the disease in 1996, establishing the Hendrick Marrow Program in 1997 to aid patients nationwide suffering from leukemia and 70 other blood diseases.