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Ricky Hendrick
Hendrickricky.jpg
Hendrick's 2002 Busch Series car
Born Joseph Riddick Hendrick IV
(1980-04-02)April 2, 1980
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Died October 24, 2004(2004-10-24) (aged 24)
Bull Mountain (near Martinsville), Virginia, U.S.
Cause of death Aircraft accident
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
49 races run over 3 years
Best finish 29th (2002)
First race 1999 Myrtle Beach 250 (Myrtle Beach)
Last race 2002 Mr. Goodcents 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 3 0
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
30 races run over 2 years
Best finish 6th (2001)
First race 2000 Grainger.com 200 (Pikes Peak)
Last race 2001 Auto Club 200 (Fontana)
First win 2001 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 23 0

Joseph Riddick "Ricky" Hendrick IV (April 2, 1980 – October 24, 2004) was an American stock car racing driver and partial owner at Hendrick Motorsports, a NASCAR team that his father Rick Hendrick founded. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 2, 1980, and began his career in racing at the age of fifteen. He competed in both the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series before his death from an airplane accident on October 24, 2004. He was killed with seven other family members and friends during the accident.

Racing career

Hendrick began his career in auto racing at the age of 15 by racing in the Legends Series Summer Shootout. In 1998, he received his first win on May 23, and earned his first pole position on July 18. One year later, he entered the NASCAR Busch Series at Myrtle Beach Speedway, where he qualified fifth and finished 20th.

Hendrick continued to run the series in 2000, with the addition of competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series piloting the No. 17 GMAC/Quaker State Chevrolet Silverado. While running races in the No. 24 Busch Series car, he was involved in multiple accidents and suffered from concussions.

In 2001, he started to compete in all the Truck races. He recorded his first NASCAR career win at Kansas Speedway on July 7, becoming the youngest rookie to win a race. Hendrick was also able to accomplish 19 top ten finishes, the most by a rookie at that time. However, at the end of the season, he finished second in the Rookie of the Year Standings, with Travis Kvapil winning the award.

In 2002, he moved to the Busch Series with crew chief Lance McGrew driving the No. 5 GMAC Financial Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Hendrick suffered an accident in the third race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that resulted in a broken shoulder. He required surgery and missed 3 months of racing before he returned in May and finished 15th at Richmond. Hendrick decided to retire from driving in October of the same year. He continued to be employed by Hendrick Motorsports, as the owner of two teams: Brian Vickers in the Nextel Cup Series and Kyle Busch in the Busch Series. Hendrick also founded a motorcycle dealership in Pineville, North Carolina, named Ricky Hendrick's Performance Honda.

Death

On October 24, 2004, around 12:30 p.m. EDT, Hendrick died in a plane crash near Martinsville, Virginia, killing him and nine others. The plane, on its way to the Martinsville Speedway for the Subway 500, crashed on Bull Mountain due to pilot error in heavy fog.

Only days after he died, his fiancée Emily Maynard learned that she was pregnant with his child. Maynard gave birth to their daughter, Josephine Riddick "Ricki" Hendrick, on June 29, 2005, naming the girl after her late fiancé.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
1999 Gordon/Evernham Motorsports 24 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI TAL CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB
20
PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH
DNQ
DOV CLT CAR
37
MEM
DNQ
PHO HOM 92nd 155
2000 JG Motorsports DAY CAR
DNQ
LVS ATL DAR
DNQ
BRI TEX NSV
5
TAL CAL RCH
28
NHA
DNQ
CLT DOV SBO
42
MYB
13
GLN MLW
DNQ
NZH PPR
26
GTY
38
IRP
36
MCH BRI
DNQ
DAR
29
RCH DOV CLT
13
CAR
39
MEM PHO 49th 876
14 HOM
39
2001 Hendrick Motorsports 24 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT
18
DOV KEN
15
MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM
41
75th 267
2002 5 DAY
27
CAR
21
LVS
37
DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH
15
NHA
15
NZH
30
CLT
22
DOV
25
NSH
15
KEN
8
MLW
15
DAY
20
CHI
21
GTY
24
PPR
22
IRP
7
MCH
23
BRI
29
DAR
33
RCH
17
DOV
27
KAN
38
CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM 28th 2125

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 NCTC Pts Ref
2000 Hendrick Motorsports 17 Chevy DAY HOM PHO MMR MAR PIR GTY MEM PPR
6
EVG TEX KEN GLN MLW NHA
7
NZH MCH IRP
12
NSV
9
CIC RCH
DNQ
DOV
25
TEX
8
CAL 30th 846
2001 DAY
2
HOM
5
MMR
8
MAR
9
GTY
6
DAR
34
PPR
5
DOV
3
TEX
5
MEM
7
MLW
10
KAN
1
KEN
6
NHA
4
IRP
18
NSH
11
CIC
11
NZH
5
RCH
8
SBO
6
TEX
8
LVS
6
PHO
28
CAL
10
6th 3412
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