Hendrick Motorsports kick starts 40th anniversary celebrations at Martinsville with Jeff Gordon & Geoff Bodine as Grand Marshals

Hendrick Motorsports legends Jeff Gordon and Geoff Bodine will serve as grand marshals for the NASCAR race at Martinsville to celebrate the team's 40th anniversary.

The team was founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984 and is one of the most successful NASCAR teams with 304 Cup Series victories and 14 championships. As they celebrate their 40th year in 2024, the April 7 race at Martinsville is celebratory as Geoff Bodine registered their first victory on the track.

Jeff Gordon won the Cup Series championship four times with Hendrick Racing during his racing career. He will be joining Bodine at Martinsville this weekend, whose victory on the track in 1984 was a major reason the newly surviving team did not shut down, making history since.

Rick Hendrick will also drive the pace car as part of the celebration. The team is certainly on a high with its 40th anniversary. Kyle Larson, who currently races for them revealed how he felt at Martinsville as a part of the team.

"This year being the 40th anniversary, Martinsville (Speedway) has been talked about a lot – more of the first win side of things," his comment on HM's website read. "Before I got here, I knew what Martinsville meant to Hendrick Motorsports. Once I got here, though, you feel it more than you had heard."

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Kyle Larson admits to feeling more pressure for Martinsville weekend being a Hendrick Motorsports driver

Being an important and historic race for the team, Kyle Larson revealed that he feels the pressure going into the weekend. Although he won the race earlier, he still stresses because of what the race means to Hendrick Motorsports.

"It gives more meaning to the weekend," Racer quoted him saying. "Even though maybe some of us wouldn’t admit it, I would say, yeah, I feel more pressure for (this) weekend because of the meaning and what it would mean to this organization. Rick and Linda [Hendrick] especially."

All four drivers in the team's lineup, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliot, William Byron, and Alex Bowman have each won a race on the 0.5-mile circuit.

Larson currently is in the fight for the Cup Series championship, only 14 points away from Martin Truex Jr. in the lead. The HM driver also won the 2021 championship and has been chasing his second since. He won the race in Las Vegas earlier this year, strengthening his 2024 campaign.