Portrait of Rick Hendrick

Birthday profile

Rick Hendrick

Rick Hendrick, American businessman, founded Hendrick Motorsports

Born
July 12, 1949
Age in 2026
77
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1949

About Rick Hendrick

Joseph Riddick "Rick" Hendrick III (born July 12, 1949) is an American businessman. He is best known as the owner of the NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports. He is also a co-owner of JR Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately held dealership group in the United States. As of 2024, his team has won 304 NASCAR Cup Series races, making him the winningest team owner in NASCAR. His team has also won a combined total of nineteen NASCAR Championships: fifteen in the NASCAR Cup Series (seven by Jimmie Johnson, four by Jeff Gordon, two by Kyle Larson and one each by Chase Elliott, Terry Labonte), three in the NASCAR Truck Series (all by Jack Sprague) and one in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (by Brian Vickers in 2003). He is one of only three owners in history to win NASCAR Championships in the top three series, joining Richard Childress and Jack Roush. Hendrick was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2020. == Career == Hendrick began drag racing at the age of fourteen in a self-built 1931 Chevrolet. Two years later, at the age of 16, Hendrick won the Virginia division of the Chrysler-Plymouth Troubleshooting Contest, a two-part test consisting of a written exam and a timed hands-on diagnosis and repair of defects planted on a car. Afterward, Hendrick opened a small used-car lot with Mike Leith. Leith, an established new-car dealer, was convinced to name Hendrick the general sales manager of the company, at the age of 23.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

The world when Rick Hendrick was born

Rick Hendrick was born in 1949. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1949

  • #1 song"Riders in the Sky" – Vaughn Monroe
  • Top movieAll the King's Men
  • Top TV showTexaco Star Theater
  • Best-selling bookThe Egyptian - Mika Waltari

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJoe Louis retires from boxing as undefeated heavyweight champion
  • Top headlineNATO established
  • Technology milestoneFirst stored-program computer runs its first program
  • Defining fadSilly Putty
  • Notable inventionSilly Putty
  • World population2.52 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (BAA)
  • U.S. population149.2M

1949 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Rick Hendrick's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19492026
Gas$0.27$3.45/gal
Average home$8,400$435,000
Average income$5,000$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.46$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population149.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.