Ray Hendrick is the 2026 Hall of Fame inductee in NASCAR. His friends and former colleagues, Rick Hendrick and Ray Evernham, are among the ones who are celebrating his new accolade the most. Mr. Modified was known for his prowess in the Modified division. In fact, he was the dominant force in the racing series and brought a lot of attention to the series. So when Rick Hendrick and Ray Evernham had the chance to bring a tiny piece of their friend’s legacy back to life, they ended up doing everything they could in their power to make it happen.

Rick Hendrick and Ray Evernham relive glory days through restoration

During the NASCAR Hall of Fame Fireside Chat, Kyle Petty was interviewing the two about Ray Hendrick‘s modified, which was restored for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. When asked about their motivation behind this passion project, Ray Evernham was the first to jump in. He explained the relevance of the car for Rick Hendrick. By the end, Evernham made it clear that it was the very same car that inspired Rick Hendrick to start his journey as a team owner.

“When you look at it, probably Rick was there but didn’t know it—one of the times that I was at Trenton. And it inspired Rick Hendrick to do what he wanted to do, you know, in racing. And they set the goal—or set in motion—for guys like Richie Evans and Jerry Cook and people like that, what modified racing is now. They changed the sport.

And again, I fell in love with that car. And I’d like—I just knew the car. It stayed—it came to New Jersey for a while because when Ray, I guess, went to race for Dick Armstrong, he bought the car, took it up to Connecticut or wherever. And lots of people drove it: Hop Harrington, Ron Bouchard drove the car on their way up. Then they got sold, came down to Wall Stadium, and it became a #2 Junior. And Don Stives drove it—he turned it over. And again, I knew it was that car. They fixed it.”

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Ray Evernham was always interested in buying the car when it was up for display with different owners after its purpose was served. He was unable to buy the car because of the lack of funds, but kept visiting the places that showcased the car. One day, he would end up calling Rick Hendrick about buying the car and restoring it.

“One day saw it sitting in Martinsville, Virginia, and a man named Ken Stewart owned it. Remember years later saying, ‘Mr. Hendrick, hey, that car is in, you know, Martinsville, Virginia, and Ken Stewart’s run me out of there 20 times for trying to buy it. Maybe he’ll talk to you.’ So Mr. Hendrick called him up, and they made a deal. And it’s been—it’s been at your place now for several years, right?”

The entire group made sure to take care of the minutest details when it came down to the restoration of the car. During the show, Kyle Petty was left shell-shocked when he came to know that the entire car was restored to look and drive exactly like its prime. Rick Hendrick and his fellow enthusiasts were so keen about the detail that they even brought back the original engine used in his car.

“I went to Trenton, New Jersey, with Ray and Frank Edwards, and Jack Tant said, ‘This is it.’ And Frank restored it. But the amazing story is Frank traced—went all over that car, but the motor… When I talked to Jack Tant, he said, ‘You know, I took that motor and put it in my truck years and years—40 years ago.’ Yeah, it’s in his shop on the floor. And Ken had, so we went back through it with Hilborn injectors… The car got the truck. Yeah, pulled that car back in the day.”

Where did the iconic No. 11 on Ray Hendrick’s car come from?

Ray Hendrick’s modified Flyin’ No. 11 is well known for its ability to terrorize every opponent on track in the modified series. While there is no way to verify the 700 wins associated with his name, there was one hard truth about his racing—people were never surprised because of his victory. They were only surprised when he didn’t end up winning a race. So where did he get the idea for the iconic No. 11?

Ray Hendrick’s son, Ronnie Hendrick, answers the question during his father’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony—

“Now, through the years, people have asked me—where did the No. 11 come from? Well, I was told by Jack Tant that when he built his first race car. Back in his day, you didn’t have fabrication shops; you had to go to a junkyard, or you had to find a car somewhere to build and put it on a race track. So he found one, got to his garage, tore it apart, and when he came to pull up the carpet in the racecar, he found 11 pennies.

He said, that’s gonna be the number. Number 11. And then he said, ‘I just don’t want to have 11. That’s nothing; that’s just a number.’ So, the late Joe Weatherly in the 1950s drove a No. 9 with a white wing behind the number. It looked more like an angel wing… And Jack Tant said, ‘Nahh. We are going to put a wing around his car. But it’s going to be cool-looking. We are going to paint it on the inside with red, orange, and yellow. It’s going to look like it’s fire.'”

So that’s how the iconic No. 11 came into existence. What was initially a cool symbol that showed Jack Tant’s unique idea for his modified car soon ended up turning into nightmare fuel for the drivers on track competing with Ray Hendrick. As his son Ronnie says, they would end up getting scared when they saw Ray Hendrick was there on the track with them.

And by the end of the race, the competitors watching him would end up getting motivated to try and bring modifications to their car just so they could keep up with Hendrick and not end up behind him once again.