Twenty-five years ago this past Sunday, a car dealer from Charlotte was looking to stay in NASCAR.
He brought his team, All-Star Racing, and drove three hours north, to a little track known by the nameMartinsville.
To finish was probably their only goal that day.
With an almost unknown driver, Geoff Bodine, behind the wheel, they shocked the field and came away with a victory.
The pay check helped keep the team afloat, and keep racing.
As we all know, this simple car dealer was Rick Hendrick.
Had this one event not occurred, where would the powerhouse of Hendrick Motorsports be?
Not a question I want to attempt to answer and it's probably not the place to debate it either.
All I know is, Jimmie Johnson has a new grandfather clock. It will take up company with the other four he already owns.
Hendrick should look at buying stock in the little paperclip in south Virginia.
Johnson already dominates at Lowe's Motor Speedway, now he has won five of six at Martinsville.
Maybe this guy is for real. Maybe he can win four straight championships.
I was in Martinsville for the race, and never would have imagined the No. 48 team was going to be there at the finishthey didn't even exist until mid-race.
Not that the ability isn't there, but with the difficulty of passing and the speed the laps wind down, time was running out. But with about 50 to go, all of a sudden that Lowe's Chevy came to life and it was on.
Denny Hamlin, Virginia's own son, was on his way to win this race, again.
Chad Knaus, probably the best crew chief in the game, had a different agenda, and in the end Hendrick's domination at this track continued.
All four teams, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Mark Martin, all finished in the top-10.
Some people thought that Hendrick Motorsports was losing something to the competition, but after this weekends results, I think that the other teams still have a ways to go.
Only Stewart Haas Racing showed massive gains, putting both cars in the top-10, while Roush Fenway still continues to struggle at Martinsville with all the teams finishing out of the top-10.
Hendrick owes a debt of gratitude to the shortest track on the circuit. Johnson gave everyone from Hendrick a reason to love this place.
I had a great weekend watching it unfold, rain or no rain.
Twenty-five years ago, Hendrick wasn't even at the track to watch his driver pull into Victory Lane.
Oh, how times have changed.
BW
That is pretty cool! Thanks for sharing