Rick Hendrick won’t need to participate in this weekend’s Brickyard 400 qualifying to determine who will lead the Cup cars to the starting line on Sunday.
Officials at Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced on Wednesday that the longtime NASCAR team owner will instead drive the pace car for the 30th Brickyard race, the first to be held on the historic 2.5-mile oval since 2020.
Hendrick Motorsports holds numerous team records, including championships, victories in points-paying races, laps led, and pole wins. The team has achieved at least one race victory in each of the past 39 seasons, and one of Hendrick’s drivers, Jeff Gordon, won the inaugural Brickyard 400.
For this race, Hendrick will be behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
“Time has flown by,” Hendrick remarked in a statement. “I can hardly believe it’s been four decades since we founded Hendrick Motorsports and 30 years since Jeff (Gordon) claimed the first Brickyard 400. I’ll always remember the excitement surrounding that event and the thrill of winning a race at Indianapolis.”
Hendrick, now 75 years old, began his career by working on race cars alongside his father, “Papa Joe.” He rebuilt his first car, a 1931 Chevrolet, at the age of 14.
He frequently traveled to racetracks across the Southern United States, often volunteering as a crew member, before building a career in retail automotive sales and eventually pursuing his passion for racing through team ownership.
Hendrick Motorsports, which employs 600 people, manages his four-car Chevrolet team that includes drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson.
