For a team that has won the NASCAR championship 15 times, it can be said with much certainty that Rick Hendrick doesn’t mess around when it comes to his team. Always emphasizing people, Hendrick knows how to raise his organisation and keep them up to mark. Fast forward to today, and Hendrick Motorsports is taking its commitment to performance off the race track and into the new training room. NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon cannot help but boast about what sets them apart.

While speaking to the media recently at the Atrium Health Motorsports Athletic Center, Jeff Gordon revealed what he believes is the key element to winning races and championships.

“I know how important that pit crew was back in 1995 when we won that first championship, but today, I think these guys that are sitting in the front row will tell you that it is a key aspect of winning races and winning championships, and we want to continue to do that long past 15,” Jeff Gordon said.

Earlier this month, Hendrick Motorsports announced a new partnership with Atrium Health that brings a major upgrade to the team’s Concord campus.

The deal includes naming rights to the newly built Atrium Health Motorsports Athletic Centre, a 35,000 square foot space designed to keep Hendrick’s people at the top of their game, as Gordon notes.

More than a branding agreement, the partnership makes Atrium Health the long-term healthcare and wellness provider for HMS, supporting both its pit crew athletes and employees across the organisation.

Atrium Health brings serious credentials to the table. The organisation operates the largest sports medicine outreach program in the region. It is nationally recognized for orthopaedic care, and works with dozens of professional and collegiate teams, plus more than a hundred high schools across the Carolinas.

The new athletic Centre, which is set to open later this month, functions as a centralised performance hub. It serves more than 50 pit crew athletes while also providing medical and wellness support for HMS’s Charlotte area workforce with Atrium Health clinicians staffing the facility on-site.

Inside the building, the focus is on doing everything faster, stronger, and smarter. The centre includes a state-of-the-art training gym, updated locker room, space for meetings and film review, nutrition resources, and recovery areas for physical therapy and hydrotherapy.

Atrium Health’s footprint will extend beyond the walls of the facilities, starting with the 2026 NASCAR season when its branding will appear across all HMS teams, including driver firesuits, crew uniforms, training gear, and track equipment.

The organisation has also been active with NASCAR for years, supporting initiatives like the NASCAR Day Giveathon and providing sports medicine coverage at major events such as the Coca-Cola 600. Together, those reflect Atrium Health’s broader mission to promote health and wellness at every level of the sport.

However, as HMS stretches itself across all levels, the most decorated organisation and modern stock car racing has new superteam ideas of sleeves.

Hendrick’s 4 Cup stars to share JR Motorsports in 2026

HMS is always looking for the next best thing and is known to groom sharp contenders for the title.

This year, HMS will place all four of its Cup Series drivers in a single JR Motorsports O’Reilly Series entry, transforming one Chevrolet into a shared platform for proven stars and an emerging talent.

The move blends star power, sponsorship, and long-term vision, underscoring both Hendrick’s confidence in the evolving part of NASCAR development.

HMS has long used lower series as a testing ground, but putting all 4 cup drivers signals a fresh commitment to that approach. Rather than spreading resources across scattered one-offs, Hendrick is funding its talent, data, and personnel into a single JRM car, keeping its broad ecosystem tightly connected.

The move also strengthens their brand presence. The pain scheme is already being rolled out, extending that look to the Hendrix cars.com backed No.88 create a unified identity across multiple national series.

It is to be noted that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team have taken a huge hit financially following the Antitrust lawsuit. But now, adding to the financial downfall, he is reinforcing the same brand from the top level down as HMS stars are climbing into his team.

For emerging talent, Rajah Caruth, the setup brings both opportunity and pressure. He will benefit from a car developed alongside some of the best drivers, but he is also being directly compared to them, often at tracks where they have already won.

In many ways, it’s a modern mentor model putting Caruth in the same seat as HMS Cup stars and accelerating his development under the brightest spotlight.

With the 2026 season around the corner, HMS is definitely keeping itself busy this year, and the only way for them is looking forward and upward.