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 racing in Go Karts at a young age, then the Legends Series at 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 nine 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. He won 5 races in 1995 and 1 in 1996. [1] In 1998, he won three NASCAR Winston Late Model Series races and one in 1999.In 1998, he won three NASCAR Winston Late Model Series races and one in 1999.
Ricky competed in two ARCA Menards Series races, October 4, 2000 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the 2001 Daytona race in February. [2]
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 StateChevrolet Silverado. While running races in the No. 24 Busch Series car, he was involved in multiple accidents and suffered from concussions.
In 2001, he competed in the full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races. He recorded his first NASCAR career win at Kansas Speedway on July 7, becoming the youngest Truck Series driver to win a race at that time. 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.[3]
Hendrick's Busch Series car in 2002.
In 2002, he moved to the Busch Series with crew chief Lance McGrew driving the No. 5 GMAC FinancialChevrolet 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 due to mental health and physical concerns. He continued to be employed by Hendrick Motorsports, as the owner of two teams: Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch in the Busch Series. Hendrick also founded a motorcycle dealership in Pineville, North Carolina, named Ricky Hendrick's Performance Honda.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5][6]
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.)
