"I feel honored to do anything in life I enjoy" - When Rick Hendrick reflected on HMS' success after Jimmie Johnson's vital NASCAR win
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson's win at Martinsville Speedway in 2009 gave Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) and owner Rick Hendrick its 18th win at the track.
The victory was at the team's 25th win anniversary. Geoff Bodine won the first race at Martinsville for HMS in 1984 and helped put the team on the map in NASCAR. Hendrick shared his thoughts on the team’s success after the win.
"I never dreamed we’d make it 25 years. I feel honored and blessed that I can do anything in life that I enjoy as much as racing and stay with it this long and be surrounded by a lot of great folks," Rick Hendrick said in 2009 (via HMS).
"I don’t know who you’d be driving for, but it probably wouldn’t be me if Geoff Bodine hadn’t won that race in Martinsville," he told Jeff Gordon.
During the 2009 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500, Johnson started in ninth place and had some trouble with his car early on.
Gordon and Hamlin led for most of the laps but after making adjustments, Johnson worked his way up to the front. He battled Hamlin for the lead in the final laps and won the race.
"It was a fun day. We didn’t have the best car (but) as the day went on, we opted to lose track position and work on the car. The first couple of things we did was put spring rubbers in the right rear, but we lost track position, and it really didn’t help. As the day want on, Chad kept playing with tire pressure and wedge and we got the car right," Johnson said.
Johnson went on to win nine races at the 0.526-mile track in Ridgeway, Virginia.
"I hated it because it was such a big event" - Rick Hendrick after podium sweep at Martinsville Speedway
This year in April, HMS had a 1-2-3 finish at Martinsville Speedway. William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet won the Cook Out 400 at the team's ruby anniversary in NASCAR.
Rick Hendrick missed the race and later regretted watching Byron move up from 18th place to the top on TV. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott finished second and third.
"It was such an unbelievable event, and I wanted to go in the worst kind of way. It just didn’t work out. I hated it because it was such a big event, and then after we won, I really hated I wasn’t there. If you had one car that had a shot to win, you’d be really happy. Man, it turns out we had multiple cars that could win the race,” Rick Hendrick said (via NASCAR).
HMS has 29 Cup Series wins at Martinsville Speedway.