CONCORD, N.C. – The greatest stars in NASCAR were once new to the sport.
This summer, more than a dozen interns called the Hendrick Motorsports campus home as they completed internships across the organization.
Young professionals have the unique opportunity to work alongside the best in the business as they find their passion and explore a potential career path.
“You never really know how it is until you get your hands dirty and get into it,” No. 88 team crew chief Greg Ives said of the invaluable experience they gained.
As the summer draws to a close, the organization took time to recognize all of the interns’ hard work. Their accomplishments were acknowledged by many teammates across the organization, including director of competition systems Alba Colon.
“These young men and women have done a lot of work and they have put in a lot of hours to help us to get our processes and everything together,” she said. “So, it’s really nice that management and everybody gets together to say, ‘Thank you.’”
You never know where the experience of an internship will take you. Colon recalled two past interns that have gone on to become a race engineer on the No. 48 team and a leader on the new simulation program.
“We have two examples that are contributing a lot in very important positions today,” she said. “That’s why we have to continue growing this program, bring in more of them, because at the end of the day, we need to develop the next crew chiefs, the next race engineers and the next group that is going to be leading this company.”
Cole Frederick, a competition systems group intern and graduate student at the University of Alabama, looks to the future and hopes to land a role in motor sports after his experience this summer.
“This is my first internship in racing,” Frederick said. “I’ve really enjoyed working here and it makes me think I want to go into racing more because of what I’ve done here.”