"I just gave the damn car away": When Rick Hendrick recalled underselling a Monte Carlo to a wealthy landowner

Rick Hendrick may be one of NASCAR's most successful team owners, but his most memorable dealership story is one that cost him a car and taught him a lesson in humility. The Hendrick Motorsports owner recounted a routine car sale in 1976 that turned into a moment he would never forget.

Back in the late 1970s, Hendrick had just taken over a small Chevrolet dealership in Bennettsville, South Carolina. Surrounded by soy fields and cotton patches, the store didn't even have a showroom. He was determined to prove his mettle, having been promised better opportunities by Chevrolet if he could turn things around.

Rick Hendrick in front of his City Chevrolet dealership - Heritage Center in Concord, North Carolina. Source: Imagn

One day, Hendrick spotted a shirtless man in overalls with a child, walking around the lot, eyeing a $1,000 Monte Carlo that had just 5,000 miles on it. When the man offered $500 for the car, Hendrick, assuming the buyer couldn't afford more, agreed. Hours later, the local bank manager called and said:

"He don't need the money. He owns the land the bank is on. I'm just calling you to write you a check."

"I was, 'Oh, sh*t. I just gave the damn car away because I felt sorry for him.' I tell all my guys at the dealership now, 'Never qualify a person until you know all about them," Hendrick recalled during a 2007 ESPN interview.

It was a lesson for Rick Hendrick, who grew up on a farm, to never judge a book by its cover. But that act of generosity wasn't an aberration. While it caught him off-guard that time, the Hendrick Motorsports owner has never always put people first.

Years later, that philosophy would shape two of his most meaningful philanthropic ventures. First, the Hendrick Marrow Program, inspired by his battle with leukemia in the mid-1990s, and second, his long-standing support for the Victory Junction Gang Camp, for children with chronic illnesses. In both cases, the 75-year-old owner's efforts changed thousands of lives.

Team owners Felix Sabates (L) and Rick Hendrick before the 2011 NASCAR Cup Series Gatorade Duel. Source: Getty

Longtime friend and former Chip Ganassi Racing co-owner, Felix Sabates, summed it up best (via ESPN):

"He elevated this sport to a whole new height. If it wasn't for him and the vision of Bill France Jr., we wouldn't be where we are today. The people before him, they were just happy to be racing and making a living at it. Rick looked at it as a way to make money."

Today, he is the head of the largest private automotive group in the U.S., running various philanthropic missions like the Hendrick Family Foundation, Learn Live Hope, and Hendrick Cares. Yet money has never been the goal; it's been a byproduct of treating people the right way.

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How Rick Hendrick turned a swampside store into a billion-dollar empire

Rick Hendrick stands in front of his Corvette collection at Heritage Center in Concord, North Carolina. Source: Imagn

Long before winning 14 Cup Series titles with Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendrick's business journey began at rock bottom. Chevrolet had offered him a struggling dealership in Bennettsville, South Carolina. It was remote, muddy, and barely functional, but Hendrick accepted the challenge.

Within years, he transformed that two-man shop into a sprawling automotive empire. However, that growth wasn't without its trials. In 1997, Hendrick was placed under home confinement for a year and fined $250,000 after accusations of bribery to secure Honda inventory. Many around him, including former crew chief Ray Evernham, believed he was used as a scapegoat. However, Hendrick didn't complain and placed value on loyalty, paying all his employees during that time.

"People talk about customer satisfaction. Before you can have customer satisfaction, you've got to have employee satisfaction. If these people don't think you care about them, they ain't going to care about you. That's the motto I live by," Hendrick once said.

That philosophy now powers Hendrick Automotive Group, the nation's largest privately held dealership network. The company employs over 10,000 people across 95 dealerships and four accessory distribution units in 13 states. The group sold 219,000 vehicles and serviced 2.4 million cars in 2020, generating $10 billion in annual revenue.

Through it all, he has remained rooted in the values that led him to give away the Monte Carlo because he simply cared. And in that, Rick Hendrick remains one of motorsports' most successful human stories.