In this officially licensed and stunningly illustrated volume, get a thrilling, up-close-and-personal look at NASCAR’s mavericks and key moments from the dawn of the sport to present day.
In every sport there are mavericks—trailblazers, risk-takers, hell-raisers, forward-thinkers—who drive the breakthroughs and advances that shape and define the sport. Written by longtime motorsports journalists H.A. Branham and Holly Cain, NASCAR Mavericks covers the NASCAR story in chronological order, focusing on key movers and shakers—the men and women key to the sport’s evolution—often related through first-hand stories. Racing great Tony Stewart’s foreword sets the scene.
Accompanied by exceptional images sourced from NASCAR’s archives plus other top photographers, the profiles include such NASCAR legends as:
- Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr.
- The Flock Brothers
- Lee and Richard Petty
- Smokey Yunick
- Janet Guthrie
- The Earnhardts
- Humpy Wheeler
- Tony Stewart
Interspersed with the maverick profiles are sidebars highlighting legendary races, machines, and events like the first Daytona 500, Plymouth’s Hemi Superbird, record-setting pit stops, Jeff Gordon’s T-Rex car, and more.
NASCAR Mavericks proves that racing always improves the breed!
“Spanning forty years and more than three hundred victories, the contributions of countless people have built Hendrick Motorsports into the greatest team in NASCAR history. This book is made up of their stories.” —Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon, from the foreword
Celebrate the NASCAR-champion team’s 40th anniversary with this officially licensed history featuring stunning photography, including rare images from the Hendrick Motorsports archive.Rick Hendrick built on a successful career in the retail automotive business to launch NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports in 1984. Over the ensuing four decades, it has become one of the most successful and high-profile teams in the sport’s long history. Competing in the elite NASCAR Cup Series, as of 2023, the team had posted the most points-paying wins and the most championships.
Hendrick Motorsports’ driver roster is a who’s who of the sport’s greats, including NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Today the team fields four drivers: William Byron, Alex Bowman, and Cup champions Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. Hendrick Motorsports even fielded a team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023!
Hendrick Motorsportsrelates the team’s incredible history through 40 stories focused on team milestones since its founding in 1984. Stories and highlights include:
- The first win at Martinsville that saved the team
- Involvement with the motion picture “Days of Thunder”
- The dominance of Jeff Gordon and the Rainbow Warriors
- The team’s historic 1-2-3 finish at the 1997 DAYTONA 500
- The record-tying seven championships of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus
- Hendrick Motorsports and the Earnhardts
- Becoming the first team to reach 300 wins at NASCAR's highest level
- The ground-breaking Garage 56 Le Mans program
Authored by long-time NASCAR journalist Ben White, with a foreword by Jeff Gordon and afterword by Rick Hendrick, the 200-page book includes images from top NASCAR photographer Nigel Kinrade and from Hendrick Motorsport’s archive. As the official 40th anniversary book covering the team’s entire history,
Hendrick Motorsport: 40 Years is the ideal retrospective.
