The son of the founder of Hendrick Motorsports has already carved out his own niche in the world of racing. Ricky started racing in 1995 when he was 15 years old and posted five victories in the Legends Series Summer Shootout series. In 1996, while competing in the Legends Summer Shootout Series Semi-Pro Division, Ricky posted one win and four top-five finishes. By 1997, he had moved up to the NASCAR Late Model Stock series cars, competing at tracks such as South Boston Speedway, Myrtle Beach, and Concord Motorsports Park. His breakthrough season was 1998, his first full season in Late Model cars. Hendrick posted three wins and three poles at Concord Motorsports” Park driving the Quaker State sponsored #7 car crew chiefed by Frank Edwards and owned by Ricky's grandfather, Papa Joe Hendrick. In October of 1998, he was named to drive a limited number of Busch races for the new Gordon-Evernham Motorsports team. DuPont Automotive Finishes sponsored his events for that season. He finished 20th in his Busch series debut and had a strong run ruined by a wreck later in the year at Rockingham. After GEM was dissolved, Ricky's father, Rick, became Gordon's partner in the operation. Ricky picked up sponsorship from GMAC Financial Services for the 2000 season and beyond. In April, he had a career best fifth place finish at Nashville. In 2001, he'll run the full Craftsman Truck Series schedule and limited BGN events.