Rick Hendrick was a car owner with a fading dream when he went to church with his wife 25 years ago as his team prepared to race at Martinsville Speedway. When he emerged, life as he knew it would never be the same.
Geoff Bodine, the driver who ached for an opportunity to race, and Harry Hyde, the mechanical whiz who convinced Hendrick he could build a winning race car, had proven it at the track in southwest Virginia, giving the car dealer his first NASCAR victory as an owner.
There have been 174 more victories since, as well as eight Sprint Cup Series championships, making Hendrick one of the dominant figures in a sport he almost abandoned.
"Had we not won that race 25 years ago, Hendrick Motorsports would not be here today," Hendrick said this week.
"A couple of weeks before, we were going to have to shut the team down because we had no sponsor. I told Harry we absolutely were going to quit two races before that. And we went on and won Martinsville and picked up enough help to make it through the year."
For all the good memories at Martinsville, the track is also a reminder of perhaps Hendrick's darkest day. In October 2004, son Ricky, brother John and eight others were killed when a Hendrick plane crashed on fog-shrouded Bull Mountain nearby.
Hendrick, a native of Palmer Springs who grew up coming to races at the track, said he can't fly over Bull Mountain on a clear day without looking for the 14-foot cross placed at the crash site.
The NASCAR trucks race scheduled for Saturday at Martinsville was postponed because of steady rain and has been rescheduled for Monday. The rain also washed out Sprint Cup practice.
