Dennis, I don't know the answers. In January 2014, Dargan Watts did a feature article on Roy Hendrick for our RacersReunion Home Page when Roy was slated to receive the Smokey Yunick Award in Daytona from the Victory Lane Racing Association:
DAYTONA BEACH Fla. This is the second in a series of articles about people in racing who will be honored at the ninth annual Victory Lane Racing Association Awards banquet scheduled to be held on February 18 at the Pelican Bay Golf and Country Club. The event will be preceded on Monday. February 17 by the Back To The Roots event at Main Street Station and many of the same racing VIPs will be a part of both programs.
Our salute in this article features Roy Hendrick , who is a second generation driver.
Sometimes, its hard to follow in the footsteps of a famous person and this is the case with Roy Hendrick as he chose to do this by following in the footsteps and competing against a driver who was selected one of the 50 top drivers ever to compete in NASCAR.
Hendrick is the son of the famed Ray Hendrick who blazed a trail of wins in virtually every class of auto racing.
The younger Hendrick blazed a pretty good trail for himself as Roy began his career in the limited sportsman class at South Boston Speedway in May of 1969 and chalked up his first win a year later at the same track. Three years later, with several races and wins to his credit, he claimed his first track championship at Southside Speedway in Chesterfield, Va.
He moved up to the late model sportsman division (now known as the Nationwide series) and drove a car for Blue Burton, chalking up a dozen wins. In 1982, Hendrick went to the late model stock class and the following year, he won track championships at Southside, South Boston and Orange County.
Driving for a friend and car owner, Jim Irby, he won track championships at Southside in 1989, 1990 and 1991. Hendrick and his team won 24 of 27 races at Southside in 1991.
He says that he has many fond memories of being at the race tracks with his dad, but two that stick out in his mind are, first, at Southside in 1979 when the two were racing together for the season championship and fought the entire event, running door handle to door handle, with the older Hendrick taking the win on the last lap.
The other great memory came on September 28, 1990 at Southside as he was able to fulfill his dads last wish by winning a 300-lap event in flying fashion. He not only won the race, but he lapped the field. The son said he felt the hands of his dad on his shoulders that night.
Today, Roy runs his own business and also stays involved in racing as he attends racing events regularly, helping friends with their cars and also spotting in the stands.
He maintains relationships that go back as many as 40 years ago and continues to earn the respect of every one he meets.
