Rick Hendrick Lives Upto Le Mans Promise Proving Why Hendrick Motorsports Were Perfect for NASCAR’s Ambitious Project

When NASCAR announced the Garage 56 program in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports to take a (modified) Next Gen car to the centenary Le Mans, there were many who were skeptical. After all, in theory, how could a stock car compete in arguably the most challenging race in the world? Not to mention that historically, on both occasions of NASCAR going to Le Mans, they couldn’t finish the race.

But Rick Hendrick, the owner of the winningest team in the sport and the man in charge of the organization who the governing body tasked the Garage 56 program, insisted that they weren’t just going there for the sake of it.

And as we saw yesterday, Mr. H fulfilled his words.

Rick Hendrick proves he’s a man of his word

Speaking after the announcement of the Garage 56 program in March last year, Hendrick insisted that they won’t take the whole thing lightly. “This is a full bore, full-blown effort to run 24 hours and to run competitive times,” he said as per AP News.

“We’re not going over there to ride around. We’re going to put the best effort out there and run very competitively and finish the race. That’s a tall order. I feel strongly that we can do it.”

A little over a year from this statement, the Garage 56 Next Gen car, driven by the trio of Jenson Button, Jimmie Johnson, and Mike Rockenfeller, not only ended up finishing the race, but they also finished in a very decent spot, in 39th place. On top of that, the impact and the exposure this program brought to NASCAR simply couldn’t be overstated.

The racecars and the series who were joked about in the global motorsport circles for only going left, turned left, right, and straight in line fast enough that those circles couldn’t help but respect this team.

That’s what Rick Hendrick had promised, and that’s what he reflected back on after the race. “The last thing we were going to do was come here and fall on our nose,” Mr. H said after the race yesterday. Even Jim France was left pretty emotional after the race.

“I hope my dad and my brother are somewhere up there looking down and smiling, but the goal when we set out was to try and finish the race running at the end and not be last. And we accomplished that,” France said.

Jenson Button left in awe of NASCAR racecar converted into an endurance beast

After finishing the full 24 hours of the race, Jenson Button reflected back on the “awesome” feat which they collectively achieved with the Garage 56 program. He opened up on the “long journey” the whole group of people had in the last year or so in getting the car ready for the big event.

“Lots of long hours, but what an amazing group of people to produce what they have with this car. Taking it from a Cup car and making it into an endurance car for Le Mans. Staggering. The best in the business. I’m proud to be working with these guys,” he added as per Motorsport.

Now, it’ll be interesting to see where NASCAR decides to take the Garage 56 program from this, or if Rick Hendrick gets a few ideas about taking his organization into WEC.

But whatever happens, for a NASCAR fan, the future is as exciting as it has ever been.