Twenty years after the tragedy, Hendrick Motorsports looks back and remembers
CONCORD, NC – Amid a heated NASCAR Cup Series playoff battle, Thursday at Hendrick Motorsports was a day of reflection, reunion and remembrance.
A touching ceremony at the memorial fountain on the team’s campus honored the 10 victims of the Oct. 24, 2004 accident when a Hendrick Motorsports plane was lost en route to Martinsville Speedway. Thursday marked the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.
Friends and family of the victims were in attendance, as was a large gathering of Hendrick Motorsports employees, with everyone flocking to listen. Company chaplain Donnie Floyd and team owner Rick Hendrick and his wife Linda spoke on a beautiful fall afternoon.
“Today is a time for reflection and remembrance of our loved ones and friends,” Floyd said. “We remember October 24, 2004, but most of all we remember the lives, the people, the names, the gifts and talents of the 10 beautiful souls who are no longer with us.”
One by one, the names of all ten were mentioned: company president John Hendrick and his daughters Jennifer and Kimberly; general manager Jeff Turner; chief engine builder Randy Dorton; DuPont executive Joe Jackson; pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison; Scott Lathram, driver Tony Stewart’s helicopter pilot; and Ricky Hendrick, Rick and Linda’s son and an aspiring team manager.
Loved ones placed bouquets of flowers around the fountain while teammate Austin Darling concluded the event with a song. Just before graduation, Rick and Linda Hendrick each addressed the crowd with words of remembrance and encouragement.
“I want to thank all of the families and all of our extended families (employees) for loving and supporting these people and remembering what a treasure each one was,” Rick Hendrick said. “To never be replaced and never forgotten, but to always be loved and remembered.
“I just appreciate the warmth and love that exists around this fountain today. We will never forget these souls.”
Linda Hendrick echoed her husband’s sentiments and reiterated that the couple relies on unwavering faith and support from their extended Hendrick Motorsports family to overcome such an unspeakable tragedy.
“As I look back over 20 years, I remember how much support and love you all have given and continue to give us,” she said. “I thank you for that. Thank you for who you are.
“They say it’s not what you go through in life that matters, but how you get through it. I think there’s a lot of truth to that. There are many decisions we can make when we feel like we don’t know which path to take and our lives are turned upside down.
“Nothing is ever hopeless. We always have hope.”
