In 1984, when Rick Hendrick entered the NASCAR Cup Series competition with Geoff Bodine driving the No. 5 car, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was already a star. The Intimidator had etched his name into history with a Cup championship in 1980.
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Hendrick initially planned to bring Dale Sr. into his fledgling team. But timing and circumstance shut that door.
When Hendrick made his pitch, Dale Sr. was committed to Bud Moore Engineering, a team with history in the sport since the 1960s. And by the time Hendrick officially launched his effort, Senior had already moved to the more established Richard Childress Racing.
Revisiting that crossroads on the Dale Jr. Download, Hendrick detailed how close his and Senior’s career paths briefly ran. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought up a photo of Hendrick and Earnhardt standing together in the garage at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Dale Sr. dressed in blue, Hendrick explained that he had asked the ace to shake the car down in a test run.
As the conversation continued, Hendrick admitted that he was interested in landing Dale Sr. Hendrick Motorsports was little more than a blank page at the time. And without results or reputation to lean on, Dale Sr. chose not to take the gamble.
Hendrick acknowledged he understood the odds, noting that his chances were “zero.” But then, he added, “I’m a car salesman. I mean, I’ve got to try, right?”
The connection between the two, however, predated Hendrick Motorsports’ Cup debut. In 1983, when Hendrick first dipped his toes into stock car racing ownership with Robert Gee, the duo had called on Dale Sr. to drive their No. 15 at Charlotte in the Late Model Sportsman division, now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
That decision paid immediate dividends as Dale Sr. won in his first outing for the team, delivering Hendrick his first-ever victory as a stock car owner. Later that same year, Dale Sr. climbed into the No. 5 again, this time to test for All-Star Racing.
One season later, that program officially went racing, one of the early chapters in Hendrick’s ascent. Years down the line, the storyline came full circle when Earnhardt’s son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., joined Hendrick Motorsports and took over the No. 88.
In his first race with the organization, the exhibition event ahead of the Daytona 500 in 2008, Junior drove straight to victory lane. That’s history. Father and son both won on debut for Rick Hendrick, separated by 25 years, and did so in cars carrying the same name.
The original 1983 entry was called “Emma,” named after Gee’s mother, and in 2008, the No. 88 chassis carried the same name as a tribute.
