“HMS would not have happened”: Jeff Gordon pens a heartfelt note on the passing of veteran Sports marketer 

Veteran sports marketer Max Muhleman, known for helping teams in the NFL, NBA, and NASCAR, is no more. He passed away last Thursday at the age of 88. Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon recently expressed his feelings about Muhleman’s demise.

Notably, Muhleman was the one to urge Rick Hendrick, a car dealer based in North Carolina at the time, to start a NASCAR Cup Series race team. Recalling the same, Gordon wrote on X,

“Rick has always said Hendrick Motorsports would not have happened without Max Muhleman, who approached him about starting a NASCAR team more than 40 years ago. This photo of Max is from the original All-Star Racing announcement in 1984. From everyone at @teamhendrick, farewell to a dear friend and sports marketing legend.”

“I owe Max a ton,” Hendrick said of Muhleman during a recent interview. “He was super-smart. Articulate. Never rude or abrupt. He could go toe to toe with any CEO of any major company, but he was a warm, congenial guy who also could talk to a jackman and make him feel comfortable and just as important as that CEO.”

Besides Hendrick Motorsports, Muhleman’s role in the launch of the Carolina Panthers and the Charlotte Hornets is undeniable. He also invented the PSL concept, which allows the fans to own their respective seats throughout the season via a permanent seat license.

It’s this concept that helped the Panthers raise funds for the construction of Bank of America Stadium during the 1990s. As a matter of fact, there are fans who have been holding tickets for the same seat for the past three decades.

Muhleman is survived by his two sons, Lee and Jeffrey, his brother James, and his sister Susie. As per the Charlotte Observer, a public memorial service will be held at the Myers Park Presbyterian Church on December 30th, 11 AM onwards.

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“Great business head”- Hendrick Motorsports boss speaks about his decade-old bond with Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon’s stint at Hendrick Motorsports started in 1993 when he took over the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. He drove for the organization full-time until 2015. By then, he had already amassed four championships and 93 wins, including victories at three Daytona 500s and five Brickyard 400s. He even won 81 poles with the car.

However, there was something else that Gordon was always good at. And that’s managing a business. Speaking of the same with Kelley Earnhardt in a Dirty Mo Media video, Rick Hendrick said,

“Jeff always had a great business head on his shoulders. He knew the organization so well. You know, I’d go back to that chemistry and being able to grow people from the inside. I was telling him the other day, I was, ‘What was it, 15 years ago that you quit driving.. that you were here?’ He said, ‘I’ve been here 30 years.’”

The bond between Hendrick and Gordon was so strong that when the latter got divorced from his first wife, Brooke Sealey, in June 2003, he sought refuge from none other than the automotive tycoon himself.

“When he (Jeff Gordon) goes through a divorce, he told me…’You know, you told me if I ever was in town, I could come spend the night with you.’ And I thought, ‘What? Something’s wrong here.’ He’s sweating, his shirt's all wet. He said, ‘I just want to tell you, I’m getting a divorce.’ I’m like, ‘Oh man, that’s good’… Better for me,” laughed Hendrick.

Jeff Gordon was inducted into the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019. As of today, Gordon looks after the competition and marketing aspects of Hendrick Motorsports and has been an equity partner since 1999. He is also a member of Hendrick Motorsports’ Diversity, equity, and inclusion committee.