For more than four decades, Hendrick Motorsports has stood as one of NASCAR’s most dominant teams, but its true rise began in 1995, when young Jeff Gordon turned potential into legacy. Before that breakthrough, HMS had 38 victories to its name, but no championship glory. Then came Gordon’s defining moment.
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In a 31-race season, the 24-year-old driver won seven races, visited the victory lane in three of the first six races of 1995, and bagged the Cup title, igniting a dynasty that forever changed the team’s trajectory. Now, with the No. 24 Chevrolet ready for another shot at the championship, Gordon looked back on that landmark year that revised the entire fabric of Hendrick Motorsports.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 30 years,” Gordon reflected. “A lot has happened at Hendrick Motorsports since then, with a lot of wins and championships by multiple drivers.”
Gordon still remembers the atmosphere at the Hendrick campus in 1995, where everyone had belief, ambition, and purpose. He recalled how all the people on campus at that time saw something that was special and was being built at HMS.
Back then, the conversation around the Cup Series revolved around one name: Dale Earnhardt Sr.
“At that time it was nobody can beat Dale Earnhardt Sr. To go to that ’95 season with a new car, enough experience with the team, and led by Ray Evernham, and everything that Rick provided, you just knew right away that we had something special and had a shot and were running up front each and every weekend, winning racing early in the season, leading laps. You still just weren’t sure if you could pull it off and beat “The Intimidator.”
Gordon and his crew were able to dethrone Dale Sr. Heading into the 1995 season, Earnhardt was fresh off his seventh Winston Cup championship, having tied Richard Petty’s record and now hunting for an eighth. The odds were stacked in his favor. He had won four of the last five titles and looked ready for another. Yet, Gordon refused to blink.
Despite a late-season charge from Dale Sr., the No. 24 team held firm. Gordon grabbed the title by 34 points, becoming the youngest champion of NASCAR’s modern era. At the year-end banquet, he couldn’t resist a touch of humor, raising a glass of milk instead of champagne in a light-hearted toast to Earnhardt.
That championship marked the dawn of Hendrick Motorsports’ modern empire. Gordon’s achievement shattered old guard dominance and ushered in a new era defined by innovation, precision, and sustained excellence.
“Ever since that accomplishment, this company has been on an unbelievable trajectory to continue to keep that success going, and now it’s all about maintaining the legacy that’s been built over the last 30 years,” Gordon said.
Three decades later, Hendrick Motorsports still carries that same fire Gordon sparked in 1995. What began as one young driver’s breakthrough has become a standard.
