The Dale Jr. Download - Building a Legacy: People-First Leadership with Rick Hendrick

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

Rick Hendrick takes us on an incredible journey from his early days as a young Chevrolet dealer to building the powerhouse that is Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group. In this candid conversation with Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Rick opens up about the relationships that shaped his success, the game-changing risks he took, and the servant leadership philosophy that defines his legacy.From the emotional high of winning his first NASCAR championship to Jeff Gordon stepping into a leadership role, Rick dives deep into the family culture that drives Hendrick Motorsports. He shares the hard lessons learned while managing growth, the importance of putting people over profits, and how community engagement fuels long-term success.This isn’t just a story about racing—it’s about resilience, mentorship, and finding inspiration every step of the way. If you’ve ever wondered how one man turned a passion for cars into an empire, Rick Hendrick delivers the answers.  Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media. Welcome to the business of motorsports. It is yours truly, Kelly Earnhardt Miller. You know, one thing that I really hope that this series does is open up people's horizons. I got in a lot of trouble, and I got challenged. I don't know why you're coming here. You don't trust us. I said, no, it's not I don't trust you.

I'm running a business. A lot of people kind of feel like, well, we're, We're never getting back to where we were. Why do we ever get to where we were? There's so much more involved in decision. I mean, I want to rip my head off every day. I say yes to me. Oh, you say yes on the phone.

Well, you made me say. Welcome to Dirty Mo Studios with another episode of Business of Motorsports, and I am excited for Mr. Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, and founder and chairman, CEO of Hendrick Automotive, group who is joining me today. How are you today, Mr. H? I am doing great, Kelly. It's awesome to be with you. Yeah, thanks so much for joining us. I know just like me, we do a lot of interviews about racing and NASCAR and all the things that we've accomplished, but I'm excited today to really kind of, we'll talk about both, but I'm excited to focus on the automotive business and just kind of

your leadership and all the things that you have applied to build. the business that you have today. So I do appreciate it. So let's jump right in and talk about the car business and how you got started in the car business. Well, you know, I grew up on a farm and in the muscle car era. And, you know, all I really dreamed about was racing in the car business. And then when I was going to school, I worked in a service station to make extra money working on cars and I met a dealer and opened the used car lot and became a general manager of a of a import dealership when I was 23 and then got you know got one of the General Motors people came and said hey would you like to be a dealer I couldn't believe it at like 24 years old

So at 26, I became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in a little town in Veniceville, South Carolina, with a total of five people and no showroom. And it's grown from there. So what was it like? I've read the story. Basically, you sold everything to move out of Virginia to South Carolina, as you just said, to purchase this dealership. God, just take me through that.

Well, I was in Raleigh. Okay, Rob. Yeah, running a dealership for another man. And so this little dealership in South Carolina, you know, I was used to driving a BMW and my wife had a Mercedes because I was running import stuff. And I had a brand new house. And so we were set. And so we got in the car and rode down to Veniceville. I was joking, I said, now when we get there, this the Chevrolet side will probably be in a cornfield.

Well, it wasn't a cornfield, it was a bean field. And no showroom. And so I was, I was like, man, this is, this is too much of a change. I came from a small town, but going from Raleigh to Benisville and set and starting over with, you know, getting rid of everything, getting rid of everything. Linda said, hey, if you don't do it, you'll regret it. And if it doesn't work, we'll start over. So sold the house, sold the cars. All we had when we moved to Veniceville was a bean bag. And we bought a $28,000 house in Veniceville and a back against the wall. And it was nowhere to go but up. And really General Motors promised me, they said, hey, this is a broken deal selling 200 cars.

a year. If you can fix it, show us you can do it. We'll see that you get a bigger opportunity. So 16 months, four days, 30 hours later, I got a call. Well, I was going to ask how long it took. So 16 months, you turned it around. Yeah, yeah. And what does turn it around mean when you say you're selling 200 cars a year? What did it mean to turn it around? I sold a thousand cars that year, first year. Wow. But we were selling cars and trucks and used cars back up into Raleigh, into Virginia, people that I had met and known. We just pulled out all the stops. The guy by the name of Searsall went with me down. He was a good used car guy. And we were so primitive. I had to put a clutch in a truck one night for the Pepsi bottler to keep his business because

I only had two mechanics. But it was just an all-out, full-blown effort. And it paid off because Jim said, you know, this is the most improved deal we've ever seen and you know what you're doing and here's a big opportunity. So it was, I was working hard to get out of the air. I mean, I love Benitzville. I met some great people and I still sell cars down there today.

but I wanted a big opportunity and but hard work and and really if I had taken a mediocre deal, it wouldn't have looked so good than taking something totally broken and fixing it. Wow. I'd imagine that relationships had to do a lot. You mentioned it, you know, because I'm thinking through, you know, how do you, you're in an area, you don't know people, etc. So how important was relationships that you had built? Well, you know, when you're in a market that has not been serviced and you go in and you're new in town, there's a pin up demand too. And the word got around that, you know, we all had all the inventory,

which they never had inventory. And we had inventory. And that we were aggressive and trying to sell lots of cars. and would fix any car that anybody brought in, which was different. They didn't care much about service. And we cared a lot about service. So, you know, it was just, and immediately in this small town,

I joined everything, the Rotary Club, and met new people. And really, being from a small town, it felt good to, to, to be part of the community and really do things with the people, support the fire department, do things like that, and the rotary. So it was a lot of hard work, but it sure paid off. You've grown Hendrick Automotive Group has grown exponentially as of today. And you talk about community and the hard work. One of the things that I know about you is,

a people first culture, people first mentality, that servant leadership. You have over 10,000 employees today, and I'm amazed at how that is weaved in your organizations. But did it start there? Like, where did that come into play? How did that come into play for you? Yeah, you know, I'll go back to growing up on the farm. You never had everything you need. You counted on your neighbors. If somebody's barn, burned, you help them. And I just had that relationship with people that my folks taught me. It you never can have everything you need. You need other people. And so when I went to Veniceville, I recruited three or four people to go with me. And they're still, you know, if they're alive, they're still with me today. And, and so,

looking at taking care of your people, I've always said people first. If people don't think you care about them, they're not going to care about you. And I study companies that fail rather than companies that are successful. And most of the time, there's a big difference between the leadership and the ranking files of the teammates. And I want to do things for my people because I want to get. give them insurance, retirement, or whatever, 401, and the best health benefits we can give them. And, you know, it's a philosophy I've had of people first and 350-some scholarships for their kids this year.

Rolex watches when they get to 25 years. And I've just, it's one reason I like being private because I can do things for the people. I don't have to answer to a board. It's not profits first. It's people first. And my philosophy is you take care of them. They'll work harder. They'll stay longer. And you'll end up making more. So doing COVID, I paid all my people, didn't lay off anybody. And I asked my CFO. I said, how long can I do this? And they said, well, I think we can do it 60 days, maybe 90 days. And 30 days later, we kept a team together and business came back and we were successful. And people that didn't do that were looking for people that had gone into different fields. And so it's paid off for me all of my working life and building trust and communication with you people. I love having a team.

And I feel like we're all equal. We're all on the same team. and together we're stronger than any one of two of us. So that's been the philosophy. How do you, and I mean just really physically and what things are in place that allow you to do that with such a big organization. I mean, what I know about you is that I know

that you spend weeks upon weeks upon weeks at your dealerships and all these different things. But there's a level. I mean, I just run in a business here with 150, people and you get that one person that doesn't share that same philosophy. You know, how do you make that part of the culture? Well, when you when you have that people first mentality, and then you have the folks around you, the management team, believe that and all the way down to the general managers and the stores, they will weed out people that don't fit. Because, you know,

every business you go into has a sign talking about culture, but very few of them have a good culture. And so when everybody believes every meeting I have, every kickoff meeting we have, every meeting of the general managers, we use the Maxwell Reader to talk about working together and the importance of relationships. So if you build that,

the people that don't believe it will work their way out, It's like a bad apple and people remove them. So I think that we all practice that every day. And communication is a key. Most of the time things break down through communications. And I want our folks to, I've always told them, face-to-face is the best way to communicate. And if you can't do it face-to-face, video is the next best.

and then if you can't do video phone call, and if you can't do phone call, then you can do text or email. But so much gets lost in text or email. I send people, I send people text, and they thought I was pissed off, and I was paying them a compliment. So, you know, and it's hard. So every month, the last three days, I spend three days going through every dealership, talking to every general manager, going through their numbers. and letting them talk to me and ask me questions. And then at the end of those three days, I have a feel for everything.

And if they've got a special person that is a champion or done something really special, or been there 40 years or 30 years or 20 years, they bring them into that call and introduce them to everybody. So we always tweak it to make it a little bit better, but so far it's work. How do you manage,

How have you managed the growth and at the same time the quality of your dealership group? You saw just incredible growth in the 80s and 90s. But usually with growth, there becomes problems. How do you manage that? Yeah. And the one other thing I'd say, we're all into people business. You're not in the car business or the vacuum cleaner business or the clothes business or whatever. You're in the people business.

So having people that grow up in the company that understand the culture, we try to promote from it within side. We very seldom ever go outside unless there's somebody we've known for a long time that we feel like it has a fit. But if you promote these new opportunities with people that have grown up in the company and that you give them an opportunity, and then they're hard, the job they have is weeding through all the new teammates and seeing who will drink the Kool-Aid, you know, and be part of it. Or, you know, we like this, again, feel most of the management positions with people that have grown up in the company. So that's how we've grown. And so it's worked for us. What's the most rewarding feedback that you've received or a situation with this culture that you put in place of people first?

There's got to be hundreds when you're dealing with tens of thousands of people. Yeah, I think when I hear people say, what would Ms. Page do in this situation? That means that they respect the way I've treated people, and it usually comes up when there's a customer's, unhappy or a teammate that's sick and they need to go the extra mile we need to help pay for a funeral or whatever and they'll say what would what would Rick do and then they do it and so that tells me that it's it's it's it's it's it's terminated through the company and that people believe it and so to me that's if they want to treat people the way I want to treat it then that's that tells me that we built an organization of teammates that all have the culture.

The company is not about me. The company is about all the people in the company. Because I told them in racing, I said, I'm looking at the next 40 years. In the automobile business, I'm looking at the next 50 years. And what that means is I know we all only have so much time on this earth. but I've worked too hard and too many people have believed in me and this company that spent years

trying to help build it. And when I'm not here, I want it to go on. And so when I announced that a year ago, it gave everybody comfort and my Linda's involved and my daughter's involved. And so I don't want to break up something

that's been work, it's work, people that work so hard, to bill. A lot of people my age will sell it off and, you know, take the money and go. But I don't think, I couldn't live with myself seeing that happen to something I've spent almost 50 years building. So, you know, that's my way of saying to the folks, hey, it's up to you to maintain integrity and maintain the culture and carry on. And it's not all me, it's all of you, and could keep it growing. I want the legacy to be that's one of the oldest automotive groups in the business that's

still around, still doing the same thing, the same thing in racing. So that gave me tremendous peace when I made that a point to all of our teammates. you when junior motorsports combined our Xfinity teams with Hendrick Motorsports when Dale came to to drive there in 2008 I was pretty floored that you gave us the opportunity to take your team from Hendrick Motorsports at the time the five car bring it up here to Morrisville and merge it with our one car team and I had never managed you know a large group of people and that is the one thing that I've always, I took that away from nearly day one, just, you know, in the conversations with you and your team in particular about people and about the way you treat

people and that people first mentality. And I've seen it, you know, firsthand myself on this side of the business, for sure, and in the relationships with you of how important that is. because I would have never, I just, you know, I didn't know what that meant. And like you said, it's, it's really ultimately the little things, like you said, you have to, for them to care, you have to care ultimately. And it's pretty simple. Listen, you and Dale are family to me. I've known you guys since you were puppies.

Yep. And then I was excited for us coming together. and to be honest with you, you've done a lot better job of running an Xfinity team than I was doing. And look at your success and I work ethic. And I had, you know, it wasn't new to me. I had followed you guys and been close to you. And it was exciting. And that was a division inside the cup team that we weren't paying enough attention to.

and it was out of control. Ours was out of control up until that point, too. So that we stood each other up. You know, we helped each other to help each other. So, yeah, it's been super successful. And I give you the credit because you and Dale, you know, you found sponsors, you managed the team. You've done an unbelievable job of managing and hiring and promoting,

and you've got such a great reputation. So you run the best Xfinity organization in racing. And I've been just very fortunate to be on your coat tail here. You're not on the coat tails. You are a huge part of this. And like I said, I mean, we, you know, I don't know that we would have been as good at it off the bat if we didn't have the foundation that you guys brought along that you've been describing. Because I want to tell people, too, that Mr. Hendrick and my grandfather, y'all grew up together.

Y'all met when y'all were young, teens in the Virginia area. And so our family history goes way back, which I think people, you know, they don't always know and understand, obviously, because of the Earnhardt family in the sport. But my G. family and Robert G. was a longtime employee of Mr. Hendricks when he first started the motorsports operation. And that's where I got my first. I remember you coming to the hospital to visit my granddaddy when he was. having his strokes and that's where I really was around you for a little bit to get to know you some before we came to drive for you. So that's kind of where our family history started from.

Yeah, you know, a little small town of South Hill, Virginia, when I was 15 years old, Robert G., your granddaddy, had a flying A station, and that's where all the hot rodders hung out. and most of them are a lot older than me, so I was scared to death when I went in there to talk to Robert, but I wanted to have a hood, special hood put on my Chevelle, and Robert was the bad, back then he was known as the best body man. So I went in there and Robert put the hood on my car, and we, I became friends, and then I hadn't seen Robert,

and then I moved from Benisville to Charlotte. As soon as I got to Charlotte, Robert called me, and he said, hey, I got a dirt, car and I want your name on it. So we started working together and I was involved in a dirt car and then as soon as I got into Cup racing, I asked Robert to come over and he was the wind wizard before wind tunnels were around. And then I had my first experience as a partner with Robert and your dad drove the car at Charlotte

and we won the race, and I've got the pictures all over the place of that. So very seldom become a partner in something to win the first race. I know. But I have had so many stories with Robert. My favorite story, I want to tell this one. And for people, that he was a character. I mean, you just, oh, he was a character, yeah. Oh, he was a character.

Daytona, he'd go sing down there at some place, and we'd all go listen. when I first started, but we had the Xfinity car, and Bowdine was driving it, and we were at Darlington, and the caution came out, and Bodine said to Robert, he said, Robert, you want me to pit. Now, Robert didn't want to spend any money on tires, and Robert says, hey, well, do what the leader does. And Bodine said, I am the leader. He was probably napping on the pit wall. He was sleeping. He was asleep. Yeah, two favorite things for him to do was eat and sleep. That's funny. Well, you talk about

Hendrit Motorsports and getting started there with my grandpa. What is one of the risks that you took from a Hendrit Motorsports perspective, getting started there in the 80s that paid off for you? Well, I think, you know, I thought I was going to be partners with Spurlock and Kenny Rogers and Richard Petty was going to drive the car, and it all fell apart. And I had no sponsor, no driver, and two cars with Eric and five employees. So it was a gamble, and I said, well, let's, you know, when you're young, you're fearless. And so I, we went on and started racing, and then we almost had to, well, we were going to close the doors and won a race. and got a sponsor and then kind of the rest is history.

The only thing that I really tried to do early on that never happened was your dad drive the car. And we came close one time. And I told him, I said, you just need me, you just use me to get a raise. That's all you used me for. He needed you in the negotiation. Well, it was, no. And I think just taking a chance.

and it could have gone the other way. I mean, I think all the time how blessed we were to win that race. Because we would definitely agree to shut it down. I couldn't afford it with no sponsor. And then we added the second car and the rest is history. Wow. We want to take a moment to talk about a true kitchen staple and partner of Junior Motorsports for 16 consecutive years.

Helman's mayonnaise, the number one selling mayonnaise brand. For over 100 years, Helmonds has been creating mayonnaise that's not just creamy and smooth, but it's made with real high-quality ingredients. It's that commitment to quality that makes Helmand's stand out. Whether you're using it to make Buffalo chicken dip for a game-day tailgate or you're spreading it on your holiday turkey, Helmins always delivers that perfect velvet texture and rich balanced flavor. Whether it's an appetizer, entree, or dessert, you can find recipes for game day

or the holidays at helmans.com. Helmonds is the secret ingredient that makes every meal feel a little more special. So the next time you're in the store, grab yourself a jar of Helmand's mayonnaise and taste the difference that real quality ingredients make. I'm sure there have been some employees

or drivers through your organization that have talked to you something about leadership. Can you think of a person there? You know, Kelly, you learn something from everyone. I mean, you, you taught me something in negotiations when we were sitting down with Pepsi. You're going to tell my story. Okay, tell your favorite story about Kelly. Go ahead.

This was when Kelly was young and fearless also. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we were negotiating. We were, first of all, I fulfilled my son's dream that Dale Jr. would drive for us one day. He said it before he was killed, but I never thought it would happen. And then because of our relationship and you, we put it together. Well, we're sitting in a meeting with Pepsi. We had the National Guard and Pepsi fighting over the car and we split it.

And then we're sitting there with the Pepsi people. And they said, well, and Kelly said, well, those couple things. We want to design the car. And number two, you're not going to share in the royalties. And they sat back and said, well, we can't do that because we need the royalties to help support the deal. And Kelly just closed their book and said, well, that's not going to happen.

And I thought, oh, my goodness, let's take a break. And I went out, I said, Kelly, we need to negotiate here a little bit. And as it worked out, you were right. You held strong. And so I learned a lot about your negotiating skills back in that day. I know you love to tell that story. It embarrasses me now, but I guess it worked out. it made us a lot of money.

I know that. I remember what my first check was. Oh, yeah. Souvenirs and royalties back in the day were quite something, right? Oh, my gosh. All right, let's jump into NASCAR a little bit. 1995, your first championship. How did it feel the very first time that you've seen one of your cars win a championship?

Because this is, what's 95, this is, you started in an 84. So 11 years you've been at this and then win your first championship. Well, you know, I thought you'd just go to New York every time and watch your dad and Richard Chubberts. They take the cup every. I was so used to that. I was expecting it. And then we had a great run. It was, you know, that night when I was in the Waldorf, I started thinking about everybody that had helped me along the way.

you know, Clayton Mitchell, Jack Tant, Frank Edwards, all these people. So I was on the phone calling all these folks and saying, hey, thank you for making this possible. Harry, thank you for having a dream. And so it was an overwhelming thing when you dreamed of racing, but you never thought you'd be in NASCAR. and you never ever thought you'd win a championship. So you wanted to thank everybody that helped you along the way. It was an unbelievable feeling, emotional feeling that, hey, this is something pretty special. So next year, that will be, if I do my math right, that's 30 years from your championship with Jeff.

And now Jeff is in a leadership and ownership role with Hendrick Motorsports. What's it been like seeing him transition into that role? It's been fun. Jeff always had a great business head on his shoulders. He was always good at business. And he knew the organization so well. And, you know, I go back to that chemistry and that being able to grow people from the inside.

And character is huge. and when people come visit that place, they talk about the professionalism and the character of the company. And Jeff's a big part of that, so he's been there. I was telling him the other day, I said, you know, what was it 15 years ago

that you quit driving, that you were here? He said, I've been here 30 years. That's what he mean? And I said, 30 years, that almost sounds impossible. That does. It happens.

Yeah. And so I think, tell you one funny story about Jeff. So when he goes through a divorce, he comes up here and he told me, he said, you know, you told me that if I ever was in town, and I come spend the night with you. And I thought, what? Now, I can't, something's wrong here because he's never, ever, you know, he's been the little prince. He flies from Florida to the racetrack and what's going on. He's coming to tell me he doesn't want to drive here anymore. So he comes in and he says, we go downstairs and he's sweating his shirt's all wet. And I thought, what? And the world's wrong? He said, hey, I just want to

tell you, I'm getting a divorce. I said, oh, man, that's good. That's good. That's not good, but it's better than what I had in mind, right? Yeah, right, right. And so he's, so then he stays with us a couple of weeks or so. And so one night we're sitting in, we're in the kitchen and he comes up in a t-shirt. And he's staying in the bedroom downstairs and he says, hey, I'm going to go put a pizza in the microwave to warm it up. And he said, hey, I'm going to the mall. And I'll be back. And I said, okay, son, you know, it was like your kid coming in going to go to the mall. He's letting you know what he's doing. We were laughing.

What a difference this is made. You know, you know. 30 years later. Well, we all have to have those experiences. I think you've been that kind of figure to many, many, many, many people throughout your relationships and being in this sport. One of the things that I know is that you give out quite a few Rolex, as you mentioned earlier, for your, I think it's 25 years, right? 25 years, right? Yeah.

employees. To have employees for 25 years is extremely special. Is your culture at Hendrick Motorsports unique in the NASCAR world? Well, you know, I'd like to think so from the people that have left that want to come back or have come back. You know, when I talk to them, I think they say, you know, it's different. So we do look after our people again. It's the insurance. It's the, you know, taking care of their kids with, you know, going to college with some deals there. I think that we are a big family. We talk about it, and we do celebrate those in motorsports we do every 20 years, and we'll have 8, 10, 12 people, and when I hear them tell the stories, and we video it and then present them their watches in front of everybody, and that to me means a lot, and we don't have a lot of turnover.

We, you know, Chad's been there forever, Andrews has been there forever, Alan Guffson's, been there forever, Lampy, and we don't have a lot of turnover. So I do treat them like family. It's, and, you know, again, we celebrate together. We had a 40th anniversary. We had a big blowout. And so we try to make it fun and get it done. And, you know, we're a winning culture. That's a good saying, make it fun and get it done. I'm sure through all of these, there have been a lot of tough challenges that you faced as a business owner. You know, how do you dig in and overcome those situations? You've had some major ones in your lifetime.

No, I think probably the toughest one was when we had the plane crash and I lost my son and my brother and his kids and Randy Dorton and all the people. Jeff Turner. It was a tough deal for us. I didn't know if we were able to come back, but we came back and came through that and plowed on. And we've had years where we were faced with no sponsors or sponsors pulling out. And then you're left with a big hole. And then it somehow works out, you know, somehow through all the years, you know, keeping the faith and just digging in, it's worked out. And I guess that's why we've been in business 40 years.

Everybody in this sport, because of the economy, people are in, people are out, and we depend so much on sponsorship. That's been one of the biggest hurdles that we've had to deal with, and everybody in the sports had to deal with it. And so thank goodness for my business-to-business relationships with people that I can lean on there with all. and ally and believe people like that. Yeah, one of the things that I was thinking about earlier when I was talking about Junior Motorsports

coming together with your Xfinity team and I think this is part of, you know, I know for me like losing my dad, you think about all the families, the families that you like to take, you know, that you want to take care of. And that's what keeps you moving forward. You know, Dale has heard me say that for years

and years here at junior motorsports, you know, is that when I'm coming to him with a decision, I'm like, well, you know, we have 140 families here. It's not just 140 people. It's their spouses and their kids and so on and so forth. And so it's a big group of people that as you're looking to make decisions, and I think that that'd be true for you too, just knowing what I know about you is that's what you dig in. And you're like, you can't quit because you have all these people to serve. That's right. Yeah. I don't know how many times. I've talked to you and you've mentioned you've got all these people and all these families. And so you had put your people first and every decision that you and I've had, you know,

that I always trust you and whatever you do. But you've made that a point. Hey, these families and I care about them and I want to keep it going for them. And there's a lot of times for me, I'd say, well, I've had enough. But I got all these families like tonight at Arrowwinds, we got 8.000. thousand people coming and so and you know it scares me and we're going through COVID that was what scared me the most is you know you've got all these families depend on you and they've been here and and you just can't turn your back on them and I

think that that's part of your character and I've no I can't tell you how many times I've talked to you and that's the first thing you bring up I've got these families and I'll add a car and I'll keep them all employed and and so it's that that's a that's a great trait so I'm proud of you for that the thing that I think about that too is like you know because you think about people over profits I mean a lot of business owners are going to sit here and go oh well you know they they want the profits profits profits profits that's what everybody's after but your people when you take care of your people if there ever does come a time that profits are the issue, they know where your heart is, you know, because you took care of them,

right? So when you have to come to them with a situation that maybe you are having to sacrifice something or you are having to compromise something, they look back at the relationship and go, you know what, this must be serious because they've always taken care of us if they were able to take care of us. And so I think that means a lot to our employees as well. Well, when I go around like I was in Texas and I hadn't been to a new dealership down there in a couple of years and I walked in and when I was speaking to everybody and a couple of people walked forward and they said, we just want to thank you for taking care of us doing COVID. And we want to thank you for flying food and water down here when we lost power and we had no way to get water and no way to get water and no way. to get food. You sent two plain loads of food and water down. And you do that out of your heart, and people remember that. So if you go through a tight spell and business is tough, they stick

with you. I mean, that goes back to that if they know you care about them, they'll care about you, but if you don't, they won't. That's right. One of the things I think about, like in today's world, as I'm raising my kids and, you know, trying to push them out into the world of what they're going to do and what they're going to be successful about. Our world today is kind of a right now world, right? Like you needed it yesterday. If a new kid's coming in to a business, they expect to be, you know, right up at the top, right away. And there's just a whole different mentality in terms of, you know, how you climb the ladder and all. What kind of advice do you give to people? Because, I mean, you're extremely successful, built from the ground, up business. And I feel like people aren't sure if they can achieve that same thing in today's time. You know, what kind of advice do you give those people? Yeah, you know, it's funny you mentioned that.

I have so many fathers, mothers, call me, and what I talked to their child that just graduated from college. And I've had several of them tell me, I remember. this very well because one of them was my godson and he comes in he says i just graduated and i got my masters and he said and i'm working second shift at the bank and i just feel like i need to be a CEO and i said well what what what makes you think what you need to be you should be a CEO just because you went to school that all only thing that proves is you're small you're able to learn now you got to go out in the business world and learn. And so my message to the young people is pick something you like and do it,

because if you're miserable and what you do every day, you won't be very successful. And you won't have, you won't have any fun. And money without fun is no life at all. So I mean, that's, I get to make a living doing the two things I enjoy the most outside of my family is racing in the automobile business. Now, has it been easy, no. But I think people that if they like hiking and they want to open a little boutique, do that, don't try to be the CEO of the biggest bank in the country. Just follow that path of what makes you happy because life is pretty short. Absolutely.

You've seen through your business career to, you know, changes from generational changes to technology, to technology changes to all these different changes. And one of the things like in our sport with NASCAR, kind of taking care, protecting that core fan group and moving into a new generation of fans, I'm sure this happens in the car business the same way and so on and so forth. How do you balance that?

You know, what can you share with people that will give them some, just okay, it's going to be okay? Because like everybody thinks you're trying to turn the world up down when something new comes out right like streaming television I said earlier I'm like you know the people when the TV was invented which was in your lifetime what did what did y'all think like you know what'd y'all think like oh this TV's got to ruin these kids you know just like we do now about video games but how do you progress with technology and all those things you really make me feel

oh man I am old but more of that well I mean I don't get to talk to that many people that were around the TV was invented. Come on now. All right, I stand corrected. Producer Colby here says that the TV wasn't invented until 29, so you're not that old. I'm a fossil. I know I'm a fossil. Very successful fossil you are. I think what you have to do is you have to evolve.

And the way I like to see it is you bring in young talent that has that desire to resist the status quo and want to bring in new ideas and try new ideas. And I think you have to have the balance. You have to have the old guys like me that say, wait a minute, let's look at this, let's do a pilot, let's don't jump in all the way, but you've got to, you can't have blinders on to what's happening in the world around you. You've got to stay abreast.

Now, I'll have a whole saying, you know, you don't want to be the pioneer because they get errors in their ass. So you don't want to do that. You want to make sure you're abreast of what's going on and take a step with technology in a way. And change, you know, one of the things that I learned about change is I've told my people for years, look up and Google people. people refusing to change. And you're talking to yourself about the 12 reasons people don't want to change.

And it's just normal. But if you kind of open that window and have a good mix of new ideas and you just don't want to be the good idea fairy every time something new comes along. And the older you get, the more reserved you get. But again, when you bring the young talent on, that engineers and people that are writing code

and coming up with new ways to attack the market to drive customers. You have to be open to all those things and weigh them. And I think if you have a good balance of experience and young and youth, usually you can stay abreast of how things are happening. And I think that's what you see in NASCAR with Ben Kennedy now, and he's got new ideas, new places, things he wants to do. And sometimes

we resist change, but when you step back and see it, most of the time, it was the right thing to do. Yeah, I never really thought of it that way. That is a really, I mean, I know I'm the older I get, the more conservative I am, and I'm not as much of a risk taker. You know, I might still have ideas or whatnot, but then you get, you know, within the walls, you get younger talent in here, and they're the risk takers or the idea generators. And as long as you're balancing, like you said, off of the ones that have come before you that have laid the groundwork and built the foundation and built the companies the way they have, then, yeah, I think that's a perfect way to make that analogy. You have been at this for a lot of years. And what do you...

Before TVs were invented. Come on now. Before TVs were invented. No, I wrote down, see, I wrote down when you got your dealership. in 1976 because, I mean, I don't think, you were talking about it earlier. I don't think we lose sight of the fact of all the years that have come before. Not in a bad, I mean, it's not in a bad way that you're older, you're wise. That's what they say, you're wise. Pretty good that I'm, I've lived this long. Yeah, you're wise. But, you know, we don't, we don't relish and take in all the

things that have come before. You were talking about it a little earlier, and I was thinking through situations where you get to really look at all the milestones that you've achieved to get to where you are. But how do you stay inspired and stay motivated, even today, with successful businesses, to continue to go, to continue to move on? Yeah. I think, number one, I'm competitive, and I don't want to see the company, whether racing or the automobile business gets stagnant. And so I want to see it grow. So it gives opportunity to other people. And I love seeing young people that started in sales that are moved up to management.

And they have general managers now helping me run 100 dealerships. So I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching a Chad Canals as a tire changer and then a crew chief and then, you know, running the competition side, same with Andrews. And the same with Jeff Gordon, seeing a young kid come along. They did a lot for us. We won a ton of races now. He's a partner and going to carry on in the racing space in Marquis. Marshall, my son-in-law who's involved in almost everything is super smart and my daughter now.

So she's the same way. So I just, at a point, you get to a place where you say that you're down the road in your career, but you want the company's career to go on. So that fuels me to see milestones set by the teammates and that they're taking charge. And I sit back and I look at some of the things that are going on and the defense business and all that with us. And we've got a lot of smart people that are making those decisions. And so you give them the foundation and then you watch them take advantage of it. And so that to me is the most rewarding part of what I do.

It's seeing people excel and, you know, William Byron's a Larsson or whoever it is, Bowman, Chase, growing up to be what he is, having Dale with, you know, with me and you to build our businesses together, both automotive and racing. And so that's the satisfaction I get. is just seeing things develop. And sometimes I have to take a minute to step back and I get so caught up in the day-to-day-day, meeting, meeting, calling, call, call.

You don't have a chance to celebrate. Look back at this 40 years and look back at the championship few won and the races and the people that you've grown. How about, you know, people that you've grown? How about, you know, people that you've given opportunities for, like Josh, that there was nobody at his age would have given him the opportunities you guys did. And look where he is today. He's got a really good cup right.

So those kind of things mean more to you and to me and people in business that, you know, when you stop and think about it, that's what we don't have a chance. The world's so fast. We don't have a time. We don't have time to enjoy it. No, you're absolutely right about that. My last question, which is, and you give me advice all the time, I'll text Mr. H. I'll be like, I need to talk to you just about something if you have a quick few minutes. Best mentor and advisor that you can ask for.

Who is somebody, I know that you've had to have quite a few, who is somebody in your career that it gave you advice and a good piece of advice? What was it? You know, I think my mom and my dad, my mom worked in the bank, and she helped me get 90-day loans when I was buying cars when I was in school and selling them, pedaling them. And I can't tell you how many times that I'll give you one story my dad gave me. When I was about 15 years old, I wanted this Cheval and I saw it at a dealership in Raleigh. And I wanted to go, I asked him to help me buy it, and I'd take my tobacco money

and do it. And he said, well, let me tell you something. I'm not going to buy the car there. Mr. Watkins, the dealership here in South Hill. We've been on the farmer plan all of my life, and I buy a truck, I buy a car. And that, end of that year, if I can't, if I can't make the payment, he'll roll it over to the next year. He said, I'm not going to do business with anybody else but him. So loyalty to me means more than anything. And so I remember the times that they said, you got to take care of your neighbor

because you're going to need your neighbor and you take care of your people on the farm, people that worked on the farm. I saw them when they couldn't afford to step up and do things. So I'd have to say the two of them at a very early age, because when I look back now, I remember those things that I took for granted when they were telling me. But I remember them now. Awesome.

Well, this has been awesome. I've enjoyed it. I appreciate you so much joining me for this episode of Business of Motorsports. I hope you've enjoyed it too, and it's been a little bit, not like your typical interview, because I know you get to do a lot of those. Well, there's not a typical interview the way I feel about you and family. and I think you should run for president. No, I say the one thing I don't talk about is politics.

All right. Well, I hope you have a great rest of the day. Thanks so much for joining me on Business and Motorsports. And you guys can catch us here next week. Okay, love being with you. Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.