Jimmie Johnson scores unifying, healing victory at Atlanta in 2004 | 40 wins in 40 days

Editor’s note: This is the 40th and final installment in a 40-part series highlighting 40 of the greatest wins in the history of Hendrick Motorsports to finish its 40th anniversary season.  Votes were taken from Hendrick Motorsports employees as well as representatives of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Racing Insights with all unanimous selections being ushered in automatically. The remaining wins were deliberated and decided upon by a small panel.

First and foremost, thank you for following along as we've rehashed some of the greatest moments in our organization's history. It's truly been a labor of love, and I hope you've enjoyed our 40-day excursion down victory lane. 

Upon informally polling of several folks within the organization about Hendrick Motorsports' greatest win, two quickly rose to the top of the list. Geoff Bodine's initial victory at Martinsville Speedway in 1984 was a no-brainer. The other was much more a matter of the heart. 

On Oct. 31, 2004, Jimmie Johnson rallied in signature style by mounting a late-race charge to claim victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He would only lead 17 laps on the day but most importantly, the final one. It marked Johnson's third straight win, making him the first driver to accomplish that feat since his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon pulled the trick in 1998. 

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Geoff Bodine saves organization with first win

But the mood in Georgia after the win was a mixed bag to say the least. Despite winning the previous weekend, there had been no victory lane celebration at Martinsville for Johnson, or for anyone else at Hendrick Motorsports. A company-owned aircraft bound for the race went down in the Virginia mountains. All 10 people on board died. They were: Ricky Hendrick, John Hendrick, Kimberly Hendrick, Jennifer Hendrick, Jeff Turner, Randy Dorton, Richard Tracy, Elizabeth Morrison, Joe Jackson and Scott Lathram. 

What followed was a week of unimaginable grief, mourning and uncertainty. That started at the top with team owner and CEO Rick Hendrick and his wife Linda. Lost was their 24-year-old son and owner of the team's Xfinity Series (then Busch Series) entry in Ricky Hendrick as well as Rick Hendrick's brother and two nieces, long-time engine builder, Dorton and the organization's general manager, Turner. 

And yet, just a couple of days later, the couple stood in front of the organization's employees and delivered a speech that still resonates with all that were there that day. Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 9 car and team member for the No. 5 at the time, compared it to Winston Churchill. It's one that Johnson, Gordon, and so many others talked about at length and with great reverence in preparation for this story. 

They were there. I, however, was not. For nearly every other race on this list, there are videos to watch, stats to find, recaps to read and numbers to digest - basically anything any author would need for a suitable retelling. But for this one, it quickly occurred to me that an event summary and historic perspective just wouldn't do. 

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Jeff Gordon leads DAYTONA 500 1-2-3 sweep

The facts here simply don't suffice. Several who graciously gave their time for interviews talked about attending multiple funerals that Thursday and then heading straight to the race track. They remembered a difficult joint press conference that week and special paint schemes on all the cars with all 10 victims shown on the hoods. They spoke of turning their hats backwards in a joint victory lane celebration in honor of Ricky Hendrick and of wearing red shirts for Dorton.  

All of that can be seen in photos or YouTube clips. But it cannot be felt. Truly, it is a story that most, including myself, are unqualified to write.

So, we conclude our list of 40 great wins and the 40th anniversary season of Hendrick Motorsports with the story of a victory that perhaps best illustrates the resilience and unity that has allowed the organization to thrive for four decades. 

And we'll tell it in the words of those who helped turn a time of trepidation into a testament of togetherness. 

See ya in 2025.  

HENDRICK MOTORSPRTS 40 WINS: Which victories made our list?

Jeff Andrews

Hendrick Motorsports president and general manager

"October 24, 2004, was a day that forever changed the lives of the Hendrick family. First and foremost, our immediate thoughts were to grieve for Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick and the loss of their son, brother, and nieces. Everyone had a huge hole in their heart for the family that had given so much to so many of us. And the others on board - Randy, Jeff, everyone - how could such an unimaginable tragedy happen to such an amazing family, who does so much for all of us? We hurt so bad. All we wanted to do was to find a way to help them, ease their hurt and pain. Little did we know, they were worried about all of us the same way.

"How could we ever think about racing the same way again? How could a family with so much grief ever want to come back down the hill into Hendrick Motorsports again?  But not only did they come to see us and meet with all of us just days after the accident, they asked us to go back to the track in Atlanta and make them proud ... to start the healing process by making everyone on that plane proud. At the time we didn’t see any way we could do that. How do we show up and do our jobs with so much grief?

"But the family who lost so much that day, and had done so much for others, was now asking us to do something for them. And we did. We committed to Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick that we would honor the family the best way possible; by going back to the racetrack.

"It was one of the hardest days of my life, to walk in the garage area. No one knew what to say to you. People wanted to help and comfort you, but how? It was unthinkable what had happened to us, but I think I speak for all of us who were in Atlanta that weekend in saying, we had to win that race. It was the only way in our minds that we could come close to paying tribute to those we lost.

"There were so many unknowns. Would we continue as a company? Would the team be sold? But we didn’t care, we had to do what we had been asked by Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick. And then we won that race and the emotions were so raw. It hurt so bad to be in victory lane knowing that we would never celebrate a win with any of them. John, Randy, Ricky, Jeff…. all of them had been so influential in our careers, and lives. It was a surreal moment, for the first time we looked to the sky and pointed to them. And we still do that to this date, we will always look up in appreciation, honor and yes, still grief after all these years.

"Grief, honor, fear and thankfulness, all in the same day, in a matter of hours it was over and somehow this great company has found a way over the next 20 years to continue on and be successful with wins and championships. It's a testament to Mr. Hendrick and his leadership. He knew, as bad as his heart was hurting, we could do it. He believed in us and gave so many of us the opportunity to take the helm and lead this great company.  

"We had paid the ultimate honor to those we lost and most Importantly the two people who we hurt for the most. And we strive every day to continue to do so."

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Ricky Hendrick wins CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race

Jimmie Johnson

Former driver of the No. 48 car

“It was unbearable. I wasn’t sure how Rick and Linda were going to go on and obviously, there were other families impacted by the crash as well. There was just so much there, god, I just didn’t know how we were going to go on. We were attending all those services and we weren’t sure if we were even going to go to the race track … There were rumblings. ‘Are we going to be putting our cars in the transporters and shipping them?’

“But Rick and Linda stood up in front of all of us at Hendrick Motorsports and gave us an authentic and real point of view of where their hearts were, the pain they were going through, what the company meant to them … they let us know that the ones we lost would’ve wanted us to go to the track. To this day, I don’t know how they found the courage to be there, but we went down to Atlanta on a mission.

“It was out of control. During the week we show up at the track and have a press conference and then finally got a bit of normalcy back into the schedule and that helped shake some of the sadness. Then to stand there in victory lane and turn our hats around backwards to honor those we lost, it really put a smile back on a lot of faces.

“For me, it was more about the unity of the group. Every team member, every driver, anyone in Hendrick Motorsports apparel, we just stood there, cried and hugged.” 

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Jeff Gordon reaches stardom with Brickyard 400 win

Chad Knaus

Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition, former No. 48 crew chief

“Mr. and Mrs. H came over here and had a big moment with the whole organization and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to keep going. These people lost their lives coming to watch you do what you do every single day. That was a big deal. I think it reinvigorated us.”

“It was painful. There were a lot of tears shed, a lot of emotions, but we just went to the track and did what we needed to do and we were very fortunate to have a fast race car. Jimmie did a great job driving that day, our pit crew did a great job throughout the course of the event and we were able to hold them off at the end to get that victory.

“All week of just blocking a lot of emotions, all week of not letting them get the best of us, not being vulnerable – that all came to a head right there at the end of that race. They caught me on TV crying and whatnot. That was a tough one and it was a big one. I’m very proud of that one. We were able to get everybody in victory lane after that and we all had black armbands on. Jeff Andrews was there and I think he and Scott Maxim had bright red engine builder shirts in honor of Randy Dorton.

“That’s probably the most powerful win I’ve ever been apart of because it definitely touched everyone that worked at this company, whether you were a part of the 48 team or not.”

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Jimmie Johnson wins seventh title at Homestead-Miami

Jeff Gordon

Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman, former driver of the No. 24 car

I don't think you can fully put it in perspective or comprehend the weight of that race or the meaning of that victory without going back to the total devastation the week before and hearing that news and just being in shock. I can remember going to Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick's house and they'd just lost their son and family members ... from emotion of sadness to telling stories of great memories and to be there at that moment was hard but it something I'll never forget. Just how powerful that was. 

"And then to feel their loss at that time and then two or three days later, here they are at Hendrick Motorsports. To have them get our whole company together it was just mind blowing. It was like, 'You should be grieving. You take care of yourselves and your family. Don't worry about the race team, we'll get through it, but we care about you.' But their care for us and making everybody feel like, 'Listen, we just lost part of our family but you're part of our family too.' I think this company went to another level because of that support. Because of that family atmosphere. 

"I remember everybody leaving that room going, 'Oh, we're going to win at Atlanta.' As a group. It wasn't me against you, it was, 'We're all going to Atlanta and we're going to get this done one way or another for these two incredible people. They don't deserve this. How can we do something for them, for this company?' So, it was just highly motivating for the race teams, to go from the lowest of the lows and to take that and build strength on it was amazing. Of course, we wanted to be the ones to do it, but Jimmie was the one and Chad and that team and thank goodness for them. I've never been to a victory lane like that. Everybody was hugging, everybody was happy and sad and we're going to turn our hats backwards and honor Ricky. 

"Just talk about a wild and crazy week that was unforgettable." 

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 40 WINS: Kyle Larson puts Hendrick Motorsports in class of its own

Alan Gustafson

No. 9 crew chief, No. 5 team member in 2004

“Of my entire career here, that was the most uncertainty I’ve ever faced. You just didn’t know what was next. Mr. Hendrick and Mrs. Hendrick came and spoke to us, which to this day is probably the most impactful speech or gathering I’ve ever been a part of … it was really an iconic moment for me for what they expressed and how they generated some hope and direction in the worst time. I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but you think of those Winston Churchill speeches and that stuff, but to me, it was along those lines. And then you go to Atlanta and the 48 was able to win with the big placards on the hoods of all the cars.

“It was just Chad taking a chance and things working out and then Jimmie making it happen. After Mr. and Mrs. H’s speech, you felt like, ‘Hey, we’re going to move forward, and everybody collectively knows we’re going to do this and wants to do it.’ That was just affirmation.” 

Lance McGrew

Crew chief of the No. 5 Busch Series entry owned by Ricky Hendrick in 2004

“It was just such a hard weekend because we basically left the services and went straight to the track because the Busch Series cars had to be there a day early. We had Kyle Busch driving the car and we were kind of in a battle with Martin Truex Jr. for the championship. And we got there, and (Truex's team) had unloaded our car and unloaded our trailer for us. Obviously, the whole thing was just a gut punch and having to go to the track that soon after and all the people talking about it, it was hard.

“We did this big press conference and all the drivers and crew chiefs and everyone had to talk and it was rough. It’s still rough to think about and it’s been a long time.

“Finding a way to get through it and be successful was super hard but obviously, that’s just the fabric of Hendrick Motorsports. It’s overcoming adversity. Pulling together and pulling the right direction together.” 

Steve Letarte

NBC NASCAR analyst, No. 24 crew member in 2004

“I think it just allowed us as a company to look out the window and realize that there is a future ahead. There was so much unknown, so much heartbreak, just so much sadness that I think going to the race track and seeing the extended family in the garage and how supported our organization was in a week where otherwise, there were no highs, it was just a week of awful … we were allowed the opportunity of getting back to the race track and winning gave us a little glimpse of hope.”

Scott Maxim

Director of powertrain at Hendrick Motorsports

“I just remember (Johnson’s) will to win that race was incredible. I remember we wore red shirts to the race that weekend, Jeff Andrews and I did, in honor and respect of Randy. Red was his favorite color. We stood in victory lane and when I see those pictures, I’m reminded of standing a bit distant from Jeff. We wanted to leave a space for Randy.” 

Lisa Smokstad

Tire specialist, member of the No. 5 Busch Series team owned by Ricky Hendrick in 2004

“I went to seven funerals in one day. I remember our Busch (Series) team had to fly down earlier than the Cup team. Our equipment had to be down there. Everybody in the Busch Series rallied, they took our truck down there, unloaded our car, had our tires set out in sets – I just remember the whole community walking around the garage that week in Hendrick Motorsports hats. And NASCAR did such a good job letting us have that day. We walked into the garage and I’ve never felt so surrounded and supported by everyone.”