"I couldn't believe it at 24 years old": Billionaire HMS owner Rick Hendrick looks back on his humble beginnings

Way before Rick Hendrick founded Hendrick Motorsports in 1984, the billionaire owner of NASCAR's most successful organization started his own dealership. Hendrick was in his mid 30s when he started HMS. But his foray into the car business began in his early 20s.

This was something he recently revealed to Kelley Earnhardt. The co-owner of JR Motorsports asked Hendrick how he got started in the car business. The 75 year old revealed:

"I grew up on a farm in the muscle car era, and all I really dreamed about was racing in the car business. And then when I was going to school, I worked in a service station to make extra money working on cars, and I met a dealer and became a general manager of a import dealership when I was 23 and then got one of the General Motors people came and say, 'Hey, would you like to be a dealer?' I couldn't believe it at 24 years old." [00:55]

Rick Hendrick added that at 26 years of age, he became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in a small town in South Carolina. At that time, his dealership had no showroom and employed a total of 5 people, from which his business empire has grown.

It's worth mentioning that Hendrick's Hendrick Automotive Group currently has over 100 dealerships and his personal net worth is estimated to be $1 billion.

The NASCAR exploits of Rick Hendrick at a glance

Hendrick Motorsports was founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984 and today it's the organization which has the most number of wins in the sports' history. HMS have won 373 races in NASCAR, 312 of which came in the Cup, and 18 championships, 14 of which came in the Cup Series.

Rick Hendrick's team has also been home to some of the biggest names in the history of NASCAR. Drivers like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all driven for HMS in their careers. Moreover, the modern greats and legends in the making like Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, two of the biggest names in the sport today are also part of Rick Hendrick's organization.

Along with Richard Childress and Jack Roush, Rick Hendrick is the only owner to have won a championship in each of NASCAR's three tiers.

Interestingly, Rick Hendrick himself has tried his hand as a driver in NASCAR on a few occassions. Mr. H has 4 appearances in total across Cup, Xfinity (formerly Busch), and Truck Series. His two starts in the Cup Series between 1987 and 1988 at Riverside resulted in a 33rd and a 15th place finish.

Hendrick made one appearance in the Busch Series in 1987 that led to a 24th place finish, and one in the Truck Series in 1995 where he finished in 23rd. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017.