Back in 1984, a legacy was established in NASCAR. Rick Hendrick created his Cup Series team that year. Geoff Bodine fetched the first Hendrick Motorsports victory at Martinsville Speedway and started a long, glittering journey of wins. Standing in 2025, HMS boasts 317 Cup Series victories and 14 championships. Occupying the highest pedestal in the sport was only possible due to Hendrick’s unrelenting work ethic, as his driver, Kyle Larson, divulged.

The No. 5 HMS driver finished in a solid 4th place at last Sunday’s Dover race. What is more, two of Larson’s teammates, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott, also fetched top ten results. This story of excellence has been a consistent trend – not only due to the drivers’ hard work but also their owner’s commitment.

Kyle Larson is grateful to belong to HMS

After all, the ‘golden boy’ harnesses inspiration from somewhere. After Rick Hendrick roped him into the HMS fold in 2020, Kyle Larson realized his full potential. In 2021, Larson clinched 10 victories among 26 top tens en route to a blockbuster Cup Series championship. It snuffed out all doubts about his career, which was close to derailing following his suspension from Chip Ganassi Racing. Not only that, but Larson also maintained that streak of excellence into 2025. He undertook two ‘Double’ attempts in 2024 and 2025. Wrecks and other snags scuttled both of them, and for the past two months, Larson went through a summer slump. But he recovered from it in Dover, climbing from 23rd to 4th place.

And you can guess who Kyle Larson attributes his redemption to. Every legendary Cup Series driver goes through their doldrums, but they need a team owner’s resilient drive to pick them back up. For Larson, it is Rick Hendrick, as he said in a recent ‘NASCAR Live’ episode. Larson praised Hendrick’s attitude: “I think he is striving for excellence out of himself and all of his people and employees every single day, throughout motorsports, throughout automotive, everything. So he is as competitive as it gets, and I love having him as a boss. He is a great leader. He actually was just calling me. When I get done with this, I’ll call him back. I’m sure he’s got some competitive, motivational things to say.”

Up next is the Brickyard 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson won the 2024 race 30 years after Rick Hendrick kissed the bricks at Jeff Gordon’s victory in the inaugural Indianapolis race. Hendrick has participated in all 28 Brickyard 400s and accumulated 11 victories. Larson hopes to make him proud again: “Always love having him at the racetrack. He’ll be coming to be there this weekend, I believe, at Indy. He doesn’t get to too many races these days, it’s just always nice if he can be at the track. Yeah, we look forward to it as a group this weekend, and hopefully we can make him proud.”

For the upcoming weekend, the HMS fold is busy preparing for Indy. However, preparations for the fall race in Las Vegas also kicked off recently, with more people saluting Rick Hendrick.

A heartwarming collaboration is in progress

A 40-year-old legacy will inevitably carry a treasure chest of valuable connections. The same goes for Rick Hendrick, who commands the respect of most in the NASCAR community. What is more, it extends beyond the community as well, as we recently got to know. Zac Brown Band and HendrickCars.com have teamed with HMS to promote the group’s 2025 limited engagement at Sphere Las Vegas. Colors of this partnership will feature on Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet for the October 12 race at Las Vegas. The car will carry the iconic “Stone Skull” logo on the hood, with a matte black and gold chrome color palette.

What makes this more exciting is Hendrick’s prior association with the band. Zac Brown, frontman and lead vocalist of Zac Brown Band, divulged that aspect. “Mr. H has been an awesome friend for many years, and we’re thrilled to have this opportunity with his team.” Rick Hendrick also spoke of this connection: “Zac and the band are great friends of our organization. They always put on an incredible show, and I personally can’t wait to see what they come up with at Sphere – it’s going to be unbelievable. There’s a natural connection between the energy of rock and roll and the intensity of NASCAR.”

There is a lot to look forward to under Rick Hendrick’s umbrella, and Kyle Larson is getting the full package. Let us wait and see if Larson makes his team owner proud in Indy again.