Rick Hendrick is the owner of arguably the best team in NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports. With 18 Drivers’ championships and 347 race wins across several series, Rick’s team is a force to reckon with on the race track. Along with that the NASCAR legend also shared a great bond with Dale Earnhardt an icon in his own right. Despite being fierce rivals, they shared a unique bond.

While Dale Earnhardt signed on with Hendrick Motorsports in the late 2000s, there was a different Earnhardt Hendrick never managed to sign.

Dale Earnhardt used Hendrick Motorsports for a raise

Recently speaking with the daughter of the seven-time champion Kelly Earnhardt on the podcast “Business of Motorsports.” Rick talked about the initial risks he took when starting his team he said, “I thought I was going to be partners with Furlock and Kenny Rogers. And Richard Penny was going to drive the car and it all fell apart and I had no sponsor, no driver in two cars with Eric. And five employees. So it was a gamble.” Hendrick and Robert Gee were left with no driver or a sponsor.

But, being young and fearless they went ahead and started to race and, surprisingly, won, which eventually resulted in them earning a sponsor. Hendrick further revealed how close he came to signing Dale Earnhardt, “The only thing that I really tried to do early on that never happened was your dad drive the car. And we came close one time. And I told him, I said, you just need me. You just used me to get a raise.” Rick Hendrick also shared that he and Dale shared a laugh as he claimed that Earnhardt Sr. just used him as a tactic to get a hike. Hendrick may have been talking about Dale Sr.’s return to Richard Childress Racing back in 1983 when attempts from Hendrick and Co. failed to bring the Intimidator on board.

Although the two were great friends Dale Sr. never drove a full-time NASCAR schedule with Rick Hendrick. It was Earnhardt Sr. who introduced Hendrick to the sport. It was around 1982 when Dale began introducing Hendrick around the garage area as, “a fellow who wants to go to NASCAR racing.” And by the next year, Hendrick had bought into the Robert Gee Superspeedway Late Model Sportsman operation.

Furthermore, Earnhardt Sr. even helped the pair land their initial sponsorship with him coming their way for a few races he ran for them in 1983 in the Late Model series. By the year’s end, Hendrick had already planned to head to the Winston Cup racing and although after trying to convince his buddy Dale Sr., he couldn’t land him not all was lost as the seven-time champion helped Hedrick and Gee shake down their new equipment as a test driver.

Rick and Robert would go on to continue working together. Dale gave their Winston Cup cars their initial laps at the Charlotte Motor Speedway which were later driven by Geoffrey Bodine the following season to 3 wins and 14 top-ten finishes in twenty races. Robert Gee would continue to fabricate cars for Hendrick Motorsports until in unfortunate demise in 1994.

Life came full circle for Dale Sr.’s unfinished Hendrick business

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As Dale Earnhardt Sr. began growing DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) for his son’s future NASCAR ambitions, things spiraled out of control following his death. Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Sr.’s wife and Junior’s step-mother was in charge. Teresa and Junior were constantly at each other’s throats, and it all came to a head in 2007. With disagreements within the team and Budweiser’s departure as a sponsor, Junior left the team and joined Hendrick Motorsports. 

While he couldn’t take his iconic #8 with him, Hendrick and Co. gave him the #88, one with which he cemented his legacy. What could have been Dale Sr. winning races in a Hendrick Motorsports car became a duty his son eventually fulfilled, at least until his retirement back in 2017.

Now, between parental duties and working on his podcast, watching a member of the Earnhardt family return to the racing track is a rare situation. Dale Jr. did come back at the South Carolina 400, sporting the #8 on his car after Teresa Earnhardt didn’t reclaim it. Perhaps it was a years-long rift healed with the number returning to NASCAR this year with JR Motorsports. Regardless, with or without Dale Earnhardt Sr., Rick Hendrick and Co. became the winningest team in NASCAR.

Now, they have the opportunity to create another dynasty with one of the biggest talents in the sport, Kyle Larson.