It's no secret that Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick were a match made in heaven when almost from the beginning of Gordon's association with Hendrick Motorsports.
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With 93 wins and four championships together, Hendrick Motorsports wouldn't be what it is today without Gordon, but how did they become synonymous with each other?
It was pretty much luck and the right timing as Gordon said in his Hall of Fame speech in 2019.
The chance of a lifetime only happened because Hendrick saw what Gordon did behind the wheel during what is now the Xfinity Series (then known as the Busch Grand National Series) race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the early 90's.
Hendrick was shocked by what he saw that day, as Gordon raced against some of the Cup series' best on that day.
He showed that his No. 1 Ford for Bill Davis Racing was a strong contender, having won his third pole position in a row before the race.
Gordon raced hard that day, allegedly smoking his tires in the corners, and Hendrick couldn't believe what he saw.
Though he was overly impressed, Hendrick was sure that Ford had already locked Gordon up with a contract to compete for the manufacturer in the Cup series and that there was no chance he could get him to Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet.
As luck would have it, Gordon's roommate at the time, Andy Graves, worked for Hendrick Motorsports. One thing led to another and, upon learning that Gordon was available, Hendrick quickly signed him to a contract. The rest is history.
Gordon reflected on the moment and gave some much clearer details of how it all went down in a video posted on X.
"Rick was telling this story the other day, how he was at Atlanta and I was running in the Busch Grand National Series for Bill Davis and driving a Ford. ... and he just happened to be there on a Saturday which was pretty rare for him," Gordon said. "He was walking to his suite alongside the track and saw smoke rolling off the right rear tire of the car I was driving, and it made him stop and tell the people he was with, 'Hey, let's see what going on here, I think he's got a tire going down or he's going to blow up.' I kept going and he was like 'Okay this kid going to wreck, who is this driver?' and they said 'Oh that's Jeff Gordon you might know him from the Thursday Night and Saturday Night Thunder. 'He said alright let's keep watching' and I went on and won the race..."
Ever wonder how my time with @TeamHendrick came to be? It all started in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/mZO5KdQB7D
— Jeff Gordon (@JeffGordonWeb) January 5, 2024
Nearly 32 years later, Hendrick and Gordon are still together, with the former driver now serving the organization as Vice Chairman. 2024 marks the team's 40th Anniversary season, and it's clear that there will be plenty more memories about NASCAR's most successful team to be shared in the coming months.
