Ray Hendrick

Ray Hendrick (April 1, 1929 – September 28, 1990) was an American race car driver. He was known as "Mr. Modified" during his 36-year career in motorsports, mainly in the modified stock car racing class.

The Virginia native collected more than 700 victories in modifieds and the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series (later known as Busch Grand National Division). Ray Hendrick was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007, and will be inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2026.

Hendrick raced his famous winged No. 11 Modified coupe fielded by Jack Tant and Clayton Mitchell. Rick Hendrick (no relation) was a pit crew member on his car in the 1960s. The Richmond, Virginia star won five track championships at South Boston Speedway, four of them while competing in the NASCAR Modified division and one in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman division.

Hendrick never won the National Modified Championship but finished in the top-ten in points nine times: 7th in 1960, 9th in 1961, 6th in 1963, 3rd in 1964, 7th in 1965, 3rd in 1966, 5th in 1967, 6th in 1968, and 10th in 1969.

Hendrick also finished eighth in 1974 and ninth in 1975 in the National Late Model Sportsman Points before it became known as the Busch Grand National Division. Ray won the Modified "Race of Champions" 2 times, in 1969 on the 1-mile Langhorne Speedway asphalt and in 1975 on the Trenton Speedway 1.5-mile oval. Hendrick is first on the all-time winners list of Martinsville Speedway with 20 wins between 1963 and 1975. Next on the list is Richard Petty with 15 wins, followed by Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, and Richie Evans. Hendrick also won a 100 Lap National Championship race on Memorial Day Weekend of 1970 at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Hendrick was best known for his racing philosophy of racing anywhere and everywhere. Hendrick's modified career and philosophy of racing anywhere and everywhere prevented him from competing full-time in NASCAR Winston Cup. In 17 starts, he collected two top-five and six top-ten finishes.

Racing record (Note: NASCAR didn't keep an official record on statistics for the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series until 1982 or the Whelen Modified Tour until 1985) Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing 1953 National Modified Series – 154 1+ - - 3,461 14th 1954 Sportsman Division – - - - - 222 798th National Modified Series – - - - - 3,004 8th 1956 Grand National Series Sam McCuthen 25/44 2 0 0 0 228th 1957 NASCAR Convertible Division J.S. Rice 90 3 0 0 536 46th 1959 Sportsman Division – - 1 - - - - 1960 National Modified Series – - - - - 2,572 7th 1961 National Modified Series – - - - - 3,064 9th 1962 Grand National Series Rebel Racing 35 2 0 0 0 83rd National Modified Series – 2 1+ - - 3,036 6th 1963 Grand National Series Rebel Racing 35 2 0 0 716 87th National Modified Series – - 2+ - 1+ 3,036 6th 1964 National Modified Series – 11 3+ - - 4,675 3rd 1965 National Modified Series – - - - - 2,958 7th 1966 National Modified Series – 11 3+ - 1+ 5,872 3rd 1967 Grand National Series Cotton Owens 5 1 0 0 0 112th National Modified Series Jack Tant 11/90 2+ - - 4,210 5th 1968 Grand National Series Tom Friedkin 14/15 4 0 0 0 95th National Modified Series – - - - - 4,054 6th 1969 Grand National Series Ray Hendrick 20 1 0 0 76 75th Late Model Sportsman Division - 11 1+ - - 2,301 16th Grand Touring – - 1+ - - - - 1970 National Modified Series Jack Tant - - 1+ 1+ 2,979 11th Late Model Sportsman Division Bob Adams - 1+ 1+ 1+ 2,301 16th Grand American – 0 1+ - - - - 1971 Winston Cup Series L. G. DeWitt 42 1 0 0 0 - Late Model Sportsman Division - 38 2+ - 2+ 2,301 16th National Modified Series - 1 1+ - - - - 1972 Winston Cup Series Dave Marcis 2 1 0 0 0 - Late Model Sportsman Division - 38 1+ - - - - 1973 Winston Cup Series Junie Donlavey 90 2 0 0 0 88th 1974 Winston Cup Series Nord Krauskopf 71 1 0 0 0.62 128th Late Model Sportsman Division - 15 2+ - - 4,262 8th National Modified Series – 1 2+ - - - - 1975 Late Model Sportsman Division - - 1+ - 1+ 3,450 9th National Modified Series – 01 1+ - - 1,381 20th 1976 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series Dick Armstrong 01 2+ - - - - National Modified Series – 01 1+ - - 1,381 20th 1977 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - 01 7+ - 1+ 2,085 14th National Modified Series – 01 4+ - - 725 31st 1978 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - 62/90 3+ - - 1,637 14th National Modified Series – 26 3+ - 1+ 857 23rd 1979 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - 02 1+ - - 2,007 10th 1980 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - 02 4+ - 1+ 1,415 18th Grand American – - 1+ - - - - 1981 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - - 2+ - - - - 1982 Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series - - 7 0 0 965 27th 1983 Late Model Stock Car - - 1 0 0 - -

Awards Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998) Ranked No. 4 on All-Time Top 10 Modified Drivers list (2010) First Inductee - Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame 2003) Inductee - National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (1993) Inductee - International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2007) Inductee - NASCAR Hall of Fame (2026)