Ricky Hendrick Net Worth 2025

Ricky Hendrick
Ricky Hendrick Stock Photo
Born	Joseph Riddick Hendrick IV (1980-04-02)April 2, 1980 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	October 24, 2004(2004-10-24) (aged 24) Bull Mountain (near Martinsville), Virginia, U.S.
Cause of death	Aircraft accident
NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
49 races run over 3 years
Best finish	28th (2002)
First race	1999 Myrtle Beach 250 (Myrtle Beach)
Last race	2002 Mr. Goodcents 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
30 races run over 2 years
Best finish	6th (2001)
First race	2000 Grainger.com 200 (Pikes Peak)
Last race	2001 Auto Club 200 (Fontana)
First win	2001 O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 23 0
ARCA Menards Series career
2 races
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0

Joseph Riddick "Ricky" Hendrick IV (April 2, 1980 – October 24, 2004) was an American stock car racing driver and partial owner at Hendrick Motorsports, a NASCAR team that his father Rick Hendrick founded. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 2, 1980, and began racing in Go Karts at a young age, then the Legends Series at fifteen. He competed in both the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series before his death from an airplane accident on October 24, 2004. He was killed with nine other family members and friends during the accident.

Hendrick began his career in auto racing at the age of fifteen in the Legends Series Summer Shootout, winning five races in 1995 and one in 1996.^[1] He moved into late models and won three NASCAR Winston Late Model Series races in 1998 and one in 1999; during this period (1997–2000) his late model team was crew-chiefed by longtime Hendrick Motorsports fabricator and mechanic Frank Edwards.^[2][3]

Hendrick competed in two ARCA Menards Series races — October 4, 2000, at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the 2001 Daytona event in February.^[4]

Hendrick continued to run late models in 2000 while adding select NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts in the No. 17 GMAC/Quaker State Chevrolet Silverado. He also made starts in the No. 24 Busch Series car but was involved in several accidents and suffered concussions.^[5]

In 2001, Hendrick ran the full Truck Series schedule. He earned his first NASCAR win at Kansas Speedway on July 7 — at the time, the youngest Truck Series race winner — and posted nineteen top-ten finishes, then a rookie record. He finished second in Rookie of the Year to Travis Kvapil.^[6][7]

In 2002, Hendrick moved to the Busch Series with crew chief Lance McGrew driving the No. 5 GMAC Financial Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Hendrick suffered an accident in the third race of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that resulted in a broken shoulder. He required surgery and missed 3 months of racing before he returned in May and finished fifteenth at Richmond. Hendrick decided to retire from driving in October of the same year due to mental health and physical concerns. He continued to be employed by Hendrick Motorsports, as the owner of two teams: Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch in the Busch Series. Hendrick also founded a motorcycle dealership in Pineville, North Carolina, named Ricky Hendrick's Performance Honda.^[8]

After retiring from driving, Hendrick remained at Hendrick Motorsports as a Busch Series team owner; his No. 5 team won the 2003 championship with Brian Vickers and fielded Kyle Busch in 2004.^[9] In April 2003 he launched Ricky Hendrick’s Performance Honda Suzuki Aprilia in Pineville, North Carolina.^[10]

In January 2006, Carolinas HealthCare System announced a US$3 million commitment from the Rick and Linda Hendrick family to benefit the new Levine Children’s Hospital; in recognition, the hospital dedicated its pediatric intensive care centers as the **Ricky Hendrick Centers for Intensive Care**.^[11][12]

From 2005 to 2008, the Ricky Hendrick Charity Ride (later the **Ricky Hendrick Memorial Charity Ride**) was held annually as a motorcycle benefit in the Charlotte area: April 17, 2005; April 23, 2006; May 6, 2007; and August 24, 2008. The inaugural event supported Nazareth Children’s Home and The Family Center; by 2007–2008, proceeds benefited the Hendrick Foundation for Children and went toward the Levine Children’s Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center.^{[13][14][15][16]}

On October 24, 2004, Hendrick was one of ten people killed when a Beechcraft King Air 200 operated for Hendrick Motorsports crashed into Bull Mountain near Martinsville, Virginia, while en route to the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the accident to flight-crew errors during an instrument approach in instrument meteorological conditions.^[17][18]

Hendrick was engaged to Emily Maynard (later Emily Maynard Johnson). After his death, Maynard learned she was pregnant and gave birth to their daughter, Josephine Riddick "Ricki" Hendrick, on June 29, 2005.^[19][20]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Ricky Hendrick driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Ricky Hendrick owner statistics at Racing-Reference