Rick Hendrick

Mr. Hendrick grew up on a farm near the rural cross-roads community of Warrenton, N.C., which straddles the central North Carolina/Virginia line. His love for automobiles and racing started while a boy on the farm, where he worked on farm equipment with his father and brother and went to races in the back of a pickup truck. At 14, he rebuilt a 1931 Chevrolet and installed a self-built V-8 engine, going on to win drag races and setting records at a local track. By age 16, Mr. Hendrick was buying, repairing, and reselling used cars he purchased with bank loans arranged with the help of his mother, who worked as a bank teller. After high school Mr. Hendrick studied engineering at North Carolina State University and continued to repair and resell cars. After college, Mr. Hendrick was offered a management position with the newly opened International Sports Car Center in Raleigh. He was so successful that, in 1973, he was appointed general sales manager of a BMW/Mercedes dealership owned by the same group. He was only 23 years old. Shortly afterward, he persuaded the ownership group to add a Honda franchise. The company's expansion pace quickened from 1986 through 1992, when the number of dealerships grew to 41. From those humble beginnings in 1975 to current day, Hendrick Automotive Group has grown to operate more than 100 automotive franchises throughout the United States.