My Experience As Dale Jr.'s Boss - Rick Hendrick on DJD Classics
About this episode
Rick Hendrick sits down with Dale Jr. to trace the family ties and early racing roots that led to Hendrick Motorsports. They swap stories from South Hill, Virginia—hood scoops, dirt-car partnerships, and boat racing—then jump to the risky start of the Cup team: recruiting drivers, running on a shoestring budget, and surviving internal personality clashes. A standout moment is NASCAR’s Bill France forcing Dale Sr., Jeff Bodine, and Richard Childress into controlled “ride together” diplomacy. The conversation also covers paint-scheme obsession, talent scouting, and Hendrick’s long-term motivation: people, not money.
No team in NASCAR has achieved the same level of success as Hendrick Motorsports. In this DJD Classic, which originally aired 9/23/19, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his former boss, Rick Hendrick, sit down for an in-depth discussion about Rick's origins in motorsports, how he built up NASCAR's winningest team, and his plans for sustaining excellence in the future. Hear Rick recount the famous rental car ride between Dale Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine that was orchestrated by Mr. Bill France himself. Plus, what did Kenny Schrader do with Dale Jr. that made Dale Sr. mad enough to not speak with Schrader for a full year? The stories are plenty, and the laughs are hearty - nobody in NASCAR can replicate the subdued humor of Mr. H.
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Chevrolet Chevelle
"...o Robert's body shop and he put a scoop on my 65 Chevelle. A hood scoop."
Jeep Wrangler
"83, I think. but it doesn't have a wrangler. So, so feeling the gap between 77 and 83, y'all..."
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