December 5, 2008
By Brenda Benedict
What do you think was the biggest story in NASCAR this season?
In my view, three of the important stories have all involved Hendrick Motorsports. And that may be a big story in itself.
The major stories involving Hendricks Motorsports are: Jimmie Johnson’s third consecutive win of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship; Jeff Gordon’s first season without a win since his rookie season ; and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s first season at Hendrick that finally brought him a win. The importance of these stories point to the strength of Hendrick Motorsports and the leadership that it is given by Rick Hendrick.
Jimmie Johnson’s third championship has garnered much attention; however the record of his team owner, Rick Hendrick may be even more impressive.
Hendrick has won his eighth owner's title in the past 14 years. He is within one of NASCAR’s record of nine which is held by Petty Enterprises. SI.com stated that Hendrick is “‘close to becoming the greatest owner in motorsports history, reeling in Roger Penske, a 14-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.”
Rick Hendrick’s first NASCAR started in 1995. He has won championships in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2008. This consistency is not an accident.
David Newton ESPN.com stated, “Perhaps Hedrick’s greatest strength is that he takes nothing for granted. He's always thinking of ways to improve, and he still gets nervous before every race as he did Sunday.
Hendrick said, “When they line up and start is when I'll wear out my shoes going back and forth down pit road because I can't stand still."
Writing this weekly article is a highlight in my week. But it isn’t the only work I do each week. I am also a writing coach for an urban school district. I work with teachers as they plan and present lessons on writing to their students. I’m learning that helping people in this capacity requires a combination of knowledge and people skills.
A good coach knows how to bring out the best in people while at the same time having a good understanding of what it is you are asking your team to accomplish. Rick Hendrick has both sets of skills.
Jimmie Johnson told a story recently that illustrated Hendrick’s ability to see what his teams need and how to get them there. Johnson was describing the difficulty that Chad Knauss, his crew chief and he were having in 2005 because they were being beaten by #20, Tony Stewart.
Johnson told the story. “Frustrations built up to where it was affecting the team and Rick just sat us down and pulled out the milk and cookies and helped us kinda put it in perspective in a Rick Hendrick type of way and just understand it. He’s so good at dealing with people and bringing up the issues that are important and delicate and then dealing with those issues.”
Hendrick described the meeting by saying he told Johnson and Knauss that if they were going to act like children, he was going to treat them like children and offered them milk and cookies on a Mickey Mouse plate.
Whatever it was that he did, it certainly worked. Johnson and Knauss have continued to have one of the most successful relationships in NASCAR.
Hendrick’s leadership contributed to one of the best NASCAR stories of the year with the dominance of Jimmie Johnson in the Chase, NASCAR’s playoff system. Johnson came into the Chase in third place but went on the win to become Sprint Cup Championship for the third time.
When asked recently if the Jimmie Johnson & Chad Knauss team is the strongest he has ever seen, Hendrick responded, “I was lucky enough to have that with Jeff Gordon and we won four championships in a row. Terry (Labonte) had one and Jeff had three back in the 90’s. Ray Everham (crew chief) and Jeff were kind of hitting every week. Things were kind of clicking in the same way.”
NASCAR fans reap the benefit of Hendrick’s skill as a team owner. In the future, history may show that one of the biggest stories this year was actually the continued dominance of Hendrick Motorsports and Rick Hendrick’s skill in leading those teams.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
