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NASCAR.com
By: Lee Montgomery
July 15th, 2004
CONCORD, N.C. -- The patriarch of one of NASCAR's most powerful teams, Joseph Riddick "Papa Joe" Hendrick Jr., died Wednesday, a team spokesman confirmed.
"Papa Joe" is the father of Rick Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, which fields the cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and of Kyle Busch in the Busch Series.
The team plans to release a statement later Thursday.
Papa Joe and grandson Ricky Hendrick were co-owners of Vickers' team, as well as Busch's team.
The road in Harrisburg, N.C. where Hendrick Motorsports is located is called Papa Joe Hendrick Boulevard in honor of the man who introduced his two sons, Rick and John, to motorsports many years earlier.
The Hendrick family lived on a farm near South Hill, Va., and Rick and John spent many hours tending the fields.
Papa Joe co-owned a car with long-time friend Frank Edwards, and Rick got interested in stock-car racing through his father.
"I remember going to a race with my dad when I was about six years old," Rick said in the book, "Twenty Years of Hendrick Motorsports. "It was at Hillsborough, N.C., and I remember Junior Johnson came rolling up with a Dodge on a flatbed truck. I think the Pettys had some kind of a grudge race against Buddy and Buck Baker. That's how far back I can remember."
When Rick got older, the racing bug bit him.
"I've always been interested in it with people back in the years before the boys got big enough to go," Papa Joe said in the book. "We'd go to Hillsborough, Richmond, South Boston and several other places to watch them race. We just looked forward to it on Saturday night. My whole family would get in the car and go to South Boston and just watch those guys run. We had a lot of fun doing that."
Eventually, Rick got a job working with Clayton Mitchell, thanks in no small part of Papa Joe's teachings.
"My dad spent a lot of time teaching me to work with my hands," Rick said. "Dad is a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. He can make things and do a little bit of everything, no matter what it is. I stayed right at his side and learned a lot about making things operate with little to work with."
Rick Hendrick further honored his father earlier this year with a $1 million donation to Central Piedmont Community College in Matthews, N.C. for the construction of the Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology.
Papa Joe was not at the event in April because he was in a local hospital with an undisclosed illness. It is not known whether that same illness was the cause of Hendrick's death.
Gordon won at Talladega earlier this year and dedicated the victory to Pape Joe.
"We've been trying to get one for Papa Joe," Gordon said in Victory Lane. "I know Rick and Papa Joe were watching. Boys, this one's for you."
By: Lee Montgomery
July 15th, 2004
CONCORD, N.C. -- The patriarch of one of NASCAR's most powerful teams, Joseph Riddick "Papa Joe" Hendrick Jr., died Wednesday, a team spokesman confirmed.
"Papa Joe" is the father of Rick Hendrick, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports, which fields the cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and of Kyle Busch in the Busch Series.
The team plans to release a statement later Thursday.
Papa Joe and grandson Ricky Hendrick were co-owners of Vickers' team, as well as Busch's team.
The road in Harrisburg, N.C. where Hendrick Motorsports is located is called Papa Joe Hendrick Boulevard in honor of the man who introduced his two sons, Rick and John, to motorsports many years earlier.
The Hendrick family lived on a farm near South Hill, Va., and Rick and John spent many hours tending the fields.
Papa Joe co-owned a car with long-time friend Frank Edwards, and Rick got interested in stock-car racing through his father.
"I remember going to a race with my dad when I was about six years old," Rick said in the book, "Twenty Years of Hendrick Motorsports. "It was at Hillsborough, N.C., and I remember Junior Johnson came rolling up with a Dodge on a flatbed truck. I think the Pettys had some kind of a grudge race against Buddy and Buck Baker. That's how far back I can remember."
When Rick got older, the racing bug bit him.
"I've always been interested in it with people back in the years before the boys got big enough to go," Papa Joe said in the book. "We'd go to Hillsborough, Richmond, South Boston and several other places to watch them race. We just looked forward to it on Saturday night. My whole family would get in the car and go to South Boston and just watch those guys run. We had a lot of fun doing that."
Eventually, Rick got a job working with Clayton Mitchell, thanks in no small part of Papa Joe's teachings.
"My dad spent a lot of time teaching me to work with my hands," Rick said. "Dad is a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. He can make things and do a little bit of everything, no matter what it is. I stayed right at his side and learned a lot about making things operate with little to work with."
Rick Hendrick further honored his father earlier this year with a $1 million donation to Central Piedmont Community College in Matthews, N.C. for the construction of the Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology.
Papa Joe was not at the event in April because he was in a local hospital with an undisclosed illness. It is not known whether that same illness was the cause of Hendrick's death.
Gordon won at Talladega earlier this year and dedicated the victory to Pape Joe.
"We've been trying to get one for Papa Joe," Gordon said in Victory Lane. "I know Rick and Papa Joe were watching. Boys, this one's for you."
