Hendrick’s milestone at Martinsville – the track that saved the team

Rick Hendrick had no plans to be at Martinsville Speedway for the Cup Series race at the track on April 29, 1984. The first-year NASCAR team owner had already decided that his organization wasn’t fit to make it in the sport. Hendrick didn’t have the funding to keep going no matter how he did the math and was making plans to shut the doors of what was then called All-Star Racing in the early weeks of April.

But when Hendrick told driver Geoff Bodine and crew chief Harry Hyde, the duo asked for more time. The race at Martinsville was approaching, and Bodine loved the Virginia short track, where he’d won in modified and late models. If given the chance, Bodine and Hyde were confident they could make something happen in the Cup Series car.

The team went to Martinsville. Bodine won the race and, ironically, Hendrick wasn’t there because he and his wife Linda were at a church event in North Carolina.

Martinsville 1984 was a timely breakthrough for Geoff Bodine and what would evolve into one of NASCAR’s greatest teams ever. Photo courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

It can be said with sincerity that the rest was history for Hendrick. The operation not only kept going for the rest of the ’84 season, in which Bodine won twice more, but today is the winningest organization in NASCAR Cup Series history with 304 victories and 14 championships.

“There’s a lot of stories around this place; that one has been pretty prevalent,” longtime Hendrick crew chief Alan Gustafson said. “(Rick) has been pretty vocal about that. I think he’s always used that as good perspective. The message I always took away from that is if he would have quit and not gone to that last race, this doesn’t exist. So, when you use that on a weekly basis and say, yeah, you race a lot of races and it becomes monotonous, but you never know what race is going to be the paramount one or the most important of your season. Or, in this case, the history of the company.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that story a lot. Probably since I started.”

Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports will celebrate its 40th anniversary at Martinsville Speedway. All four drivers will run ruby red (the color of a 40th anniversary) paint schemes, Bodine and Jeff Gordon will serve as co-grand marshals, and Rick Hendrick will be the pace car driver. There will be plenty of that activation and acknowledgment of the milestone around the weekend (Bodine’s car will be on display) as it becomes a Hendrick Motorsports takeover.

How it all started is now well-known around the NASCAR industry. And for those within the walls of Hendrick Motorsports, no matter when they joined the company.

“I’ve heard the story a lot, for sure,” Alex Bowman said. “Ever since I’ve been here, it’s something that gets talked about quite often. It’s special to win there with HMS and just to kind of learn the history of this company and to build that relationship with Rick … and see the highs and lows of the company at that place. It’s definitely an important place in this company’s history.

“To have the 40th-anniversary race (there), I think it’s a really special place for it. It’s going to be really cool.”

Bowman joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2016 as the substitute driver for an injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. He turned it into a full-time ride in 2018 and in 2021, Bowman won at Martinsville for the first time driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

After Bodine got that first Martinsville victory there have been 27 more since then. It’s where Hendrick Motorsports has won the most of any racetrack (Dover is the second-closet at 22 victories).