“You just think about everybody involved. That’s what we were thinking going to Martinsville, if there wasn’t a Hendrick Motorsports, where would these guys have gone? What would their careers (have) been like? That’s the thing about how important that first win was. Think if there wasn’t a Hendrick Motorsports. How many thousands of people would that have affected? The thousands of people he’s employed and their families, and their families. Everything you do and say in life is really important. You think it might just affect you, but it can affect a lot of people. That first win definitely makes me smile, for a lot of reasons.”
Geoff Bodine
Editor’s note: This is the 39th in a 40-part series highlighting 40 of the greatest wins in the history of Hendrick Motorsports to finish its 40th anniversary season. A new installment will be released each day from Nov. 22, 2024 through New Year’s Eve. 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.
CONCORD, N.C. - April 29, 1984, may be the most important date in Hendrick Motorsports history.
With the organization's future hanging in the balance, under its original banner of All-Star Racing, driver Geoff Bodine did the improbable and secured the underdog team’s first win at Virginia’s Martinsville Speedway.
That win saved the team from shuttering its doors, as little sponsorship support had put Charlotte, North Carolina team owner and City Chevrolet-operator Rick Hendrick in a bind with funding.
“I told (crew chief) Harry Hyde we couldn’t go past Darlington (Speedway), or I’d be putting my entire business at risk,” Hendrick told author Ben White in his book, "Hendrick Motorsports 40 Years." “We went to Darlington and finished 35th, and I thought that was it. Now, again, Harry was a great salesman. He kept saying, ‘Just let us go to Martinsville, Bodine is good there. We can win.’ He talked me into it.”
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| RACE FACTS | |
|---|---|
| Date: | April 29, 1984 |
| Venue: | Martinsville Speedway |
| Winner: | Geoff Bodine |
| Hendrick Motorsports win: | No. 1 |
| Laps led by winner: | 55 |
| Starting position of winner: | 6th |
| Top 10: | 1. Geoff Bodine; 2. Ron Bouchard; 3. Darrell Waltrip; 4. Bobby Allison; 5. Neil Bonnett; 6. Joe Ruttman; 7. Bill Elliott; 8. Kyle Petty; 9. Dale Earnhardt; 10. Buddy Baker |
| Did you know? | Rick and Linda Hendrick were not at the track or listening to the race on the radio, finding out instead about the organization-saving victory via phone call from Rick Hendrick's mother. |
Bodine’s track record at Martinsville was strong and his experience was deep. From modifieds to late models, the Chemung, New York driver had a feel for the .526-mile short track and it gave Hyde a lot of confidence heading in.
To further bolster that optimism, the team had also performed well early in the season, scoring three top-10 finishes in All-Star Racing’s first seven Cup Series races. Bodine felt like he was prepared for the moment.
“I had driven many 500-lap races there before that race,” Bodine recalled to White. “I knew how to stay off the brakes when a lot of drivers didn’t. I went into that race in 1984 feeling I could win it. I wasn’t nervous about it at all and wasn’t thinking about having to close the doors. That wasn’t in my mind at all when I crawled into the car that day. I honestly felt I had a solid chance to win that race.”
The race was a typical beat-and-bang short track go from the 1980s. As the race wore on, attrition mounted throughout the field. Yet, Bodine had kept his No. 5 All-Star Racing Chevrolet clean, saved the brakes and stayed out of trouble. With 49 laps to go, Bodine passed NASCAR hall of famer Bobby Allison for the lead.
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“I kept thinking something could still happen, but it was all starting to set in,” Bodine said in the book. “With five to go, tears were flowing down my cheeks. That’s when I started thinking about all the sacrifices I put my family through. It was finally paying off. It was finally going to work.”
Not only was this Hendrick Motorsports' first Cup Series victory, it would also be the first of Bodine’s 18 career wins, which later included his crown jewel moment – the 1986 DAYTONA 500.
“What a great time for my career,” Bodine recently told HendrickMotorsports.com. “Without Harry Hyde calling me up and having a meeting with me, and without Rick letting me drive his car, you just never know how it would’ve gone. My career might’ve stalled out.”
While the team had already celebrated, Hendrick still had not heard the news. He and wife Linda were attending a late-afternoon church service in Greensboro, North Carolina and were preoccupied most of the afternoon. As they headed home to Charlotte, Hendrick found a pay phone alongside the road to make a call. It was to his mother.
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“Mom said, dead seriously, ‘You haven’t heard? He blew up,” Hendrick said. “I thought it was all over. Then she said, ‘No, he won!’ I about dropped the phone. I went back to Linda and said, ‘You’re not going to believe what has happened. We won.’ We couldn’t believe it. Then we went straight to Bodine’s house and covered his entire yard in toilet paper. I don’t remember how we found his house (in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina) we didn’t have GPS or cell phones back then.
“It was such a relief,” Hendrick added. “If we hadn’t, there’s no way we would be here today.”
At the time, the team was still under a budget crunch, and worked out of Hyde’s humble shops in Concord, North Carolina. The same garages still exist on the campus of Hendrick Motorsports today. However, the Martinsville victory eventually changed everything as sponsors started to enter the picture. Northwest Security Life insurance pledged $400,000, or the equivalent of $4 million in today’s terms.
“And before the end of the year, we got Levi Garrett,” Hendrick said in an April 2024 Hagerty.com story. “We won the last race of the season. It was a trying time, but it was fun.”
Bodine still remembers it fondly to this day.
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“That first win a Martinsville was an incredible story that I’ll always remember,” Bodine said in "Hendrick Motorsports 40 Years." “I’ll forever be grateful to Rick for giving me the opportunity to drive for Hendrick Motorsports because of the great lifelong friendships I have made there, including the friendship that remains with him. Without that win, Hendrick Motorsports wouldn’t be here today. I’m grateful to have been a part of it.”
He often thinks about what may have happened if he hadn’t won that day, and how different the lives of countless people would have unfolded if there was another outcome.
“You just think about everybody involved. That’s what we were thinking going to Martinsville, if there wasn’t a Hendrick Motorsports, where would these guys have gone? What would their careers (have) been like?” Bodine said. “That’s the thing about how important that first win was. Think if there wasn’t a Hendrick Motorsports. How many thousands of people would that have affected? The thousands of people he’s employed and their families, and their families. Everything you do and say in life is really important. You think it might just affect you, but it can affect a lot of people. That first win definitely makes me smile, for a lot of reasons.”
The rest they say -- is history.