“I want your name on my dirt car”: Billionaire Rick Hendrick pulls back the curtain on how his partnership with Kelley Earnhardt’s grandfather began

Rick Hendrick has recalled the early partnership he had with Kelley Earnhardt-Miller's grandfather, Robert Gee. Hendrick said Gee wanted to put his name on the car builder's dirt racer, marking the beginning of a partnership between the two families.

Hendrick is an American businessman, arguably the best team owner in NASCAR. His race team, Hendrick Motorsports, won 14 championships and over 300 races, the most in the sport's history.

Speaking with Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sister, on the Business of Motorsports podcast, Rick Hendrick shared how his partnership with Robert Gee came about."When I was 15 years old, Robert Gee, your granddaddy, had a Flying Ace station, and that's where all the hot rodders hung out. I hadn't seen Robert, and then I moved from Bennettsville to Charlotte."

He continued:

"As soon as I got to Charlotte, Robert called me and he said, 'Hey, I got a dirt car. I want your name on it.' And so we started working together, and I was involved in the dirt car."

Rick Hendrick returned the favor when he entered NASCAR. He asked Robert to join him in building a race team, which was off to a good start. The duo won their first race at Charlotte in the 80s with Dale Earnhardt Sr. behind the wheel.

"As soon as I got into Cup racing, I asked Robert to come over, and he was the wind wizard before wind tunnels were around, and then I had my first experience as a partner with Robert and your dad drove the car at Charlotte, and we won the race."

Hendrick continued building his legacy in the stock car racing scene and won his first championship in 1995 with Jeff Gordon. To this day, Hendrick Motorsports is still a championship-contending team, with the latest title coming in 2021 with Kyle Larson.

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Rick Hendrick shares he got close to signing Dale Earnhardt Sr.

While the Earnhardts and Hendricks go a long way back, Dale Sr. never drove a full-time NASCAR schedule with Rick Hendrick. However, Hendrick recently told Kelley Earnhardt-Miller that he got close to signing the now seven-time champion.

While talking about the struggles Hendrick faced starting in NASCAR in the 80s, the team owner touched on almost signing Dale Earnhardt Sr. to the team but ultimately couldn't.

"The only thing that I really tried to do early on that never happened was your dad drive the car, and we came close one time," Hendrick stated. [23:42]

The automotive tycoon then shared a friendly banter he had with Kelley's father, saying:

"I told him [Dale Earnhardt Sr.], I said, 'You just use me to get a raise. That's all you use me for.'"

Dale Earnhardt Sr. spent most of his racing days at Richard Childress Racing, a Cup team he won six of his seven championships with. However, his son, Dale Jr., signed with Hendrick Motorsports in 2008 when the driver left the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) team.

The Hendrick-Earnhardt Jr. duo amassed nine wins in the No. 88 Chevrolet before the driver retired in 2017.