(Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images )
There's an age old saying when it comes to your competition, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
Rick Hendrick and the organization that he founded 25 years ago, then turned into a dynasty, never had a problem not being able to beat their competition.
HMS has over 181 Sprint Cup victories, eight Cup championships, as well as victories and championships in both the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.
This is an organization that knows how to win and can flat out get things done, and their drivers are always a factor every weekend.
In NASCAR, it's all about getting ahead of your competition and finding the edge that no one else has. It's about producing the best equipment that other organizations are jealous of and makes them work harder.
Hendrick Motorsports is that organization—the one that makes everyone else work harder, and the organization that everyone is shooting for week after week and year after year.
But for how much longer?
David Phillips recently pointed out that Red Bull Racing is rumored to be thinking of switching manufacturers from Toyota to Chevrolet, and if that happens they will get technical support from HMS.
The two Red Bull cars of Brian Vickers and Scott Speed would add to the laundry list of cars that Hendrick supports.
HMS already runs four cars full-time: Mark Martin (No. 5), Jeff Gordon (No. 24), Jimmie Johnson (No. 48), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88). And then there is the limited schedule for the No. 25 of Brad Keselowski.
The Nationwide Series has two cars that are run under the JR. Motorsports/Hendrick Motorsports banner, bringing the total to seven cars that HMS is building.
When Tony Stewart started his two-car team of himself and Ryan Newman, he turned to Rick Hendrick for not only personnel but for chassis and engines. However, many are assuming that this is not just a technical alliance and that Stewart and Newman are unofficial teammates to the Hendrick foursome.
For instance, after Stewart won at Pocono, Rick Hendrick was seen in victory lane with Stewart and later said that he, of course, always wants to see his equipment succeed. He then revealed that Stewart and Newman are given the same information that all four Hendrick cars have and share.
More recently, eyebrows were raised when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was talking about his setup for New Hampshire. Earnhardt Jr. told the media and the TV audience that he was running a set-up that was close to what Stewart and Newman were running, not what Johnson, Martin and Gordon were running.
So, add the Stewart-Haas cars to the list to make it now nine cars, as well as add them to the information sharing superhighway that HMS employs with all their teams and drivers.
Hendrick also leases out engines to the No. 78 Furniture Row team and the No. 09 for Phoenix Racing that Brad Keselowski drove to victory lane in a wild finish at Talladega.
Make it now 11 cars with HMS fingerprints on them.
In 2010, that number could grow to 13 if there is any truth to the Red Bull Racing rumors. Or if something else were to happen the number may even rise to 14.
15 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete