Business F1 Top 20 Petrolheads: Rick Hendrick, a Showman and a Racer

Rick Hendrick was born in 1949, in the right place at the right time for his future career. Indeed, North Carolina was becoming the centre of American motor racing. Hendrick was immediately fascinated by that world, so much so that his love affair with the automobile lasted a lifetime. A story that had a car at its centre: the Chevrolet Corvette. Hendrick started working in his father's used car dealership and this experience laid the foundation for all his future endeavours. Thus, at the age of 14, he started motor racing in drag races with a 1931 Chevrolet that he had modified himself, proving that he had 'the bump' in mechanics. Before the age of 20, he had already opened a workshop with Mike Leith, who owned a new car dealership next door. Leith immediately recognised his talent, so much so that three years later he appointed him general manager of the dealership.

The Hendrick Heritage Centre has 220 cars on display and a huge number of signed guitars

In 1976, at the age of 26, Hendrick went into business for himself and bought a Chevrolet dealership with his savings. That was only the beginning: today it has 93 dealerships with 10,000 employees in 13 states and an annual turnover of USD 11 billion with over 200,000 cars per year. In 1984, when he was 35 years old, it was time to think about racing: he created All Star Racing and his NASCAR team was immediately successful in the eighth race with driver Geoff Bodine. Not only that: his driver won two more races and finished ninth at the end of the season - an unprecedented debut for a new team. To date, Hendrick Motorsports has 301 victories and 14 championships in the Nascar Cup. Its drivers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, have scored 93 wins and the second 83 driving for Hendrick, respectively.

Jeff Gordon is Rick Hendrick's nominated successor as team boss of Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon won four Nascar Cup championships in six seasons

The team's greatest asset is the recognised leadership of Rick Hendrick. His hands-on approach, the wonderful team atmosphere, ensures that every success is everyone's success. and strives to create a family atmosphere throughout the organisation, where talent is nurtured and the credit for successes is shared with the entire team. Hendrick has a love affair with Corvettes and has 122 in his collection, including many from 1967, his favourite model.

Rick Hendrick has built a unique car collection of 220 vehicles in North Carolina. The star car in the Hendrick Heritage Centre is his own 1963 black Chevrolet Corvette, he bought in 1971

While there has been great success, there has also been great tragedy: 19 years ago, on 24 October 2004, the team's Beechcraft Super King plane crashed, causing the death of the team's 24-year-old son, his brother, and its pilots, the famous Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison. The team's plane crashed on its way to a race at the Martinsville Speedway. News of the crash came as the race was winding down and driver Jimmie Johnson, also of Hendrick, won the race. Fatal cruelty. Shortly after the 2004 accident, Rick Hendrick established the Hendrick Family Foundation, which supports health care, education and youth development. A great story, an important 220 vintage car collection in North Carolina that includes no less than 122 Chevrolet Corvettes of every type and year, Rick Hendrick's favourite car, above all a great man who made the automobile his life, even overcoming a cruel tragedy.

Rick and Linda Hendrick have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by going for a drive in a Corvette