Rick Hendrick: GM Will Emerge From This Stronger

Rick Hendrick's organization Hendrick Motorsports has dominated the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in recent year.

Most notably, the team fields cars for the three-time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson.

So it was no surprise that when General Motors announced Monday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, that Hendrick—who fields GM race cars—would have some comments.

"The products General Motors offers are the highest quality and most fuel efficient in its history, and I have an unwavering faith in the company's leadership team and our government's commitment to support this reorganization."

"After all of the efforts of the past several months, it's unfortunate that bankruptcy has become the only option, but we at Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motorsports are certain that GM will emerge from this stronger and better equipped to compete than ever before."

Hendrick continued to say that his 27 GM franchises would not waver in the high level of care and service that customers have come to expect and that warranties and parts would still be available.

"From a racing perspective, our heritage is with General Motors. In 25 years together, Hendrick Motorsports has won eight Sprint Cup Series titles with Chevrolet, which has more NASCAR championships and wins than any other auto manufacturer.

"Since I was a kid, Chevy has represented the highest level of performance. I've never wanted to race anything else, and I have every confidence that we will continue to celebrate victories together for many more seasons to come."

"Speaking for the more than 6,000 teammates at Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Motorsports, it has been a great privilege to be a small part of GM's rich history, and we are looking forward to an even brighter future together." (Hendrick Motorsports P/R)

GM appears to be taking the same path as Chrysler, which calls for the United States federal government to take 60 percent ownership, while Canda will claim 12.5 percent, the United Auto Workers will get 17.5 percent, and share and unsecured bondholders will receive 10 percent.

According to the Associated Press, existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out.

No announcements were made on how the most recent announcement would affect GM's monetary role in NASCAR.

Chrysler was allowed a set amount of dollars to spend on advertisement and such in NASCAR, but that number was cut significantly.

GM invests an estimated $125 million in NASCAR yearly, and if that funding is cut, it could mean bad news for the most dominant team.

HMS fields four full-time rides, and provides partnership to several "satellite-operation" teams, such as Tony Stewart's Stewart-Haas Racing.

Stewart currently leads the point standings, and Jeff Gordon (another GM driver) is second.

With GM and Chrysler both in financial doubt, the sports other two manufacturers (Ford and Toyota) appear to be on solid ground.

Ford was the only manufacturer (of the top three American) that did not take money from President Barack Obama's stimulus package.

Toyota continues to pour money into their race teams, as is evident by the continued success each weekend.

For now, GM teams appear to be OK, but the future could be bad news.