Conversation: Ricky Hendrick

SPARTA, Ky. -- Though he is the namesake of a renowned businessman and champion Winston Cup team owner, Ricky Hendrick has stamped his own identity both socially and professionally.

A personable young man with a quiet intensity, Hendrick is currently in his first NASCAR Busch Series season. He has already endured the frustration of an injury that sidelined him for weeks, but on Sunday, he rebounded to post a season-best eighth-place finish at Kentucky Speedway.

Just prior to that uplifting effort, Hendrick sat down with NASCAR.com's Marty Smith for a conversation about girls, cars and a gleaming future.

With your Dad, car owner Rick Hendrick, being so renowned both in NASCAR and corporate America, is it hard to find your own identity?

Hendrick: Ummm, no not really. I'm a lot like my father and I'm nothing like my father. The way he grew up - on a farm - he made his own identity when he was young in his love for cars.

Well, I grew up in the city, and was this punk kid that snowboarded and all this stuff, so I made my own identity but I also love cars a lot. So we don't dress alike, nothing like that. It's different, his identity and mine.

That's a really good question because I've never really thought about it like that. I feel like I just kind of formed it on my own. I'm kind of the new generation, next, X, whatever it is.

It's kind of hard for him to understand. He doesn't really understand the new generation with the hat on backwards and the sunglasses on. But he's getting used to it.

Did you get more chicks in high school because you know Jeff Gordon?

Hendrick: No, not exactly. I wish. That'd be a real positive thing. It's kinda ironic. I dated girls outside of my high school. I wanted nothing to do with the girls in my high school.

All I did was race, and the high school I was in really wasn't prepped for someone like me to go in there and race every weekend and not do the academic deal. After all that, the answer is no. But I wish. It would have helped me. I should have thought of that.

Have you ever name-dropped in a pickup line? Something like, 'Hey girl, Jimmie Johnson's my boy.'

Hendrick: Sometimes I just take him around with me, and that works pretty well. Naw, just kidding. I don't think I've ever done that, but there might be some times I've tried it and can't remember right now. I don't think so, though.

Your Dad owns like 100 car dealerships, so you've got to have a nice ride. What's sitting in your garage right now?

Hendrick: You heard some rumors, didn't you? I did used to have some really cool cars, but I can honestly say that in my garage right now is a BMW and a Suburban. That's it. Swear.

I'm soon to be in the market for a new SUV, and judging by your sponsor, GMAC Financial Services, one would assume that if I needed financing help you could take me straight to the president. So when I'm ready, can I give you a call?

Hendrick: Oh yeah, definitely. We'll get you all hooked up. GMAC is one of the awesome financial groups, and I'm not saying that because they're my sponsor, either.

I just refinanced my house through them and it's absolutely unbelievable what they did for me. They are by far the number one people I've ever run into for financial help. They know their stuff. They'd love to help you.

On a more serious note, it's pretty hard to break into this deal. Do you feel like you'd be where you are now if your father didn't own a race team?

Hendrick: I've always said that if it weren't for someone else, no one would have anything. It just so happened that my father is my car owner and was my father growing up.

But no, it definitely helps to have him as my owner. To be able to race when I was young and have him support me was big.

I never had to go out and look for sponsorships or really had to go find a ride. But at the same time, I paid my dues by working on my stuff every day after school and racing every weekend and learning the geometry of cars.

I've built every piece on that car before, so I've paid my dues so to speak. Having a father who is who he is certainly isn't a negative, by no means.

Since your predominate focus has been racing for quite some time, you're not going to college. Do you feel like you missed out on the college experience?

Hendrick: I love missing out on the college experience. I'm glad about that. I'd have loved to miss out on the high school experience, too. I've never been a real academic kid. I've never liked school, and that's not saying ... well kids you need to go to school and you need to study hard. I'm not saying don't work hard.

But I felt like at a very young age I knew what I wanted to do and I pursued it the way a normal person might pursue their academics. I knew I had a shot. I was pretty much determined to achieve the American Dream, which for me was to go out and race.

If racing didn't work, then I'd be in trouble right now because I'd be off to college starting over again. But so far, so good. I think I committed to something that I had help in and lucked into. I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing.

Who had more influence on your driving style, your dad or his employees?

Hendrick: It's hard to say. I hear I drive a lot like Jeff in being real smooth. I'm not a real aggressive driver. I've never gotten all over the wheel and just slide the thing sideways lap after lap.

It's just different styles for different folks. I went to a driving school back when I was real young, but I would contribute my driving style to when I was in Late Models.

I've always said that people who grew up with big-motored cars drive more aggressively than guys that grew up with little-motored cars.

The Late Models I drove didn't have any motor, so you had to be real smooth, had to use all the momentum you had, had to be easy with everything you did to try and make that thing as fast as possible. Some of the other guys just had a lot of motor and wrestled the thing around.

Did you ever get picked on in school by the Gordon-haters?

Hendrick: Ah, the Gordon haters. No, everyone's got their own opinion. But I don't think I got picked on about it. I try to ignore it. I try to stay low-key with that stuff.

I don't go around wearing Jeff Gordon hats and Hendrick Motorsports shirts and stuff. I love Hendrick Motorsports, of course, and that's my bread and butter, but I try not to walk around showing it off.

Your Dad goes to every race you run, mainly because he wants to be there in case anything happens to you. What's your take on that?

Hendrick: You're right, I agree with that. The number one deal with my Mom and my Dad was that they didn't want to see me racing because they didn't want to see me get hurt.

Well, they didn't want to see me racing, and I'm racing. And they didn't want to see me get hurt, and I got hurt. So I've pretty much nailed those two problems out the window.

You know what though? They're getting a lot better with it. It seems like ever since I got hurt they're not nearly as edgy as they were before.

Now maybe that's just me being naïve, but you know, it's come to a point now that they understand this is what I want to do. They know I have a 115 percent commitment in it, and they support me as best they can.

You recently separated your shoulder and had to sit out awhile. First, was that hard on you, and second what did you learn as a result?

Hendrick: Sitting out was the toughest thing that I've had to do in a long time. It gave me a perspective of something I really couldn't get in any other way I can imagine.

Obviously, I'm probably not going to get kicked out of a ride, but I had to sit out, I was forced out of my car, which gave me a greater appreciate of what I had.

Not that I ever took it for granted, but you hear the saying 'You don't know what you have until it's gone.' That's what happened for me with my racing.

It's my love, it's everything I have and know and care about, and it was gone. I have no girlfriend, nothing like that. Racing was it for me. So when that was taken away from me and there was nothing I could do about it - man, I couldn't even get in that car if I'd talked the Pope into it - it just wasn't physically possible.

So I think it gave a greater respect to the team knowing my commitment, a greater respect for me knowing my commitment, a greater respect for my sponsor and my Father, knowing my commitment.

You talked a bit there about job security. In NASCAR, people come and go daily. Is it nice to have security in an insecure profession?

Hendrick: It is nice, it really is. But at the same time, if we're running bad and I can't get out of my own way anymore, I'm gonna bag it. If we can't fix it, I'm gonna go do something else.

I'm kind of my own chief on that deal. I'm not gonna just sit out there and ride around the track because it's cool to be a racer. No.

If I'm not up front and competitive than I won't do it, it won't be fun to me. I don't do it because I have to make a living, and that's a whole other perspective on the positive for me, I do it because I love the sport. I don't do it because it's all I know and it's all I have to do and all I can do. Which, I guess some people can't say that. I do this because I love it.

What would you do if you weren't racing?

Hendrick: Definitely selling cars and staying in racing. Cars is my passion, my love. I think I inherited that, so I'd definitely involved with those two things.

How have your dad's lawsuits and health problems affected you?

Hendrick: What I believe it did was bring our family closer together. You know, in anything, be it sports, family, anything, it's always easy to have a good attitude when everything's going well. What's tough is having a good attitude when things are going bad.

That's what it did for us. We just stuck together and hung in there and pulled ourselves through it all.

Was there any particular difference you saw within your family?

Hendrick: We just got closer, which was cool. You really figure out what your family's all about when something goes down.

And when it went down, we were kind of lingering on the edge of a spider web, and the next thing you know we're all huddled in the center. Everyone's love and support helped us through it. We hung together.

Are you being groomed to take over the No. 5 Chevrolet when Terry Labonte is ready to retire?

Hendrick: My ultimate goal is Winston Cup racing if everything goes as planned. We're running 5 now, that's my father's first number.

I'd love to continue running the 5 but it all depends what Terry does. Terry's a huge asset to Hendrick Motorsports, and as long as Terry's around and wants to race, Terry Labonte will be driving the No. 5 car.

Is there a timeline for your ascension to Cup?

Hendrick: Hopefully next year we'll run about seven Cup races. And then if things go well, we'll follow that up with the full-time Cup series.