Rick Hendrick to Pace Brickyard 400Rick Hendrick to Pace Brickyard 400 Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, has been named the pace car driver for the 30th Brickyard 400. The race will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 31st. Hendrick Motorsports has a long history of success at the Brickyard. The team has won the race seven times, more than any other team. Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994. Hendrick, 75, began his career working on race cars with his father. He founded Hendrick Motorsports in 1984. The team has won 14 NASCAR Cup Series championships, more than any other team. Hendrick will drive a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the pace car for the Brickyard 400.
INDIANAPOLIS — Rick Hendrick won’t have to compete in qualifying for this weekend’s Brickyard 400 to see who leads the Cup cars to the green flag on Sunday.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced Wednesday that the longtime NASCAR owner will drive the pace car for the 30th Brickyard race — and the first at the historic 2.5-mile oval since 2020.
Hendrick Motorsports holds all the major team records, including championships, points-scoring wins, laps led and, yes, pole wins. The team has won at least one race in each of the past 39 seasons, and Hendrick’s driver, Jeff Gordon, won the first Brickyard.
Hendrick drives a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
“Time flies,” Hendrick said in a statement. “I can’t believe it’s been four decades since we started Hendrick Motorsports and 30 years since Jeff (Gordon) won the first Brickyard 400. I will never forget the excitement of that event and the thrill of winning a race in Indianapolis.”
Hendrick, 75, began his career working on race cars with his father, “Papa Joe,” and rebuilt his first car, a 1931 Chevrolet, at age 14. He traveled regularly to racetracks in the South, often volunteering as a crewman, before building a career in car sales and eventually following his passion for racing into owning a car of his own.
Hendrick Motorsports employs 600 people who work on its team of four Chevrolet cars, including drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson.
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