Hendrick’s Shocking Attempt to Poach Dale Earnhardt in ’80s
Rick Hendrick came painfully close to changing NASCAR history in the early 1980s when he tried to recruit Dale Earnhardt away from Richard Childress. At the time Hendrick Motorsports was a young outfit building its reputation, and Hendrick — friends with Earnhardt for decades — tested the idea of signing the rising star. Earnhardt even shook down one of Hendrick’s cars at Charlotte and Hendrick famously took a few laps himself, dressed in a suit and wearing Earnhardt’s helmet, as he later recounted on Dale Jr.’s podcast.
Despite the chemistry and the test runs, the move never materialized. Earnhardt was already establishing himself with Richard Childress Racing, and after joining RCR in 1984 he became the cornerstone of that team’s success. Before pairing with Childress he’d already won the 1980 Cup title, but his time at RCR produced six more championships, cementing his legacy as a seven-time Cup champion — one of only three drivers to reach that mark.
Hendrick has downplayed the odds at the time, calling them “zero,” but said his background as a car salesman made him feel compelled to try. The episode underscores how close the sport came to a dramatically different alignment of its biggest names; had Earnhardt signed with Hendrick, the trajectories of both teams could have shifted significantly. Instead, Earnhardt’s career remained tied to RCR, where he continued to be a dominant presence through the 1990s.
The later chapters of Earnhardt’s story are well known: after several lean years following 1994, he mounted a strong comeback in 2000, finishing second in the standings with two wins and multiple top-10s. The momentum headed into 2001 was high, but the Daytona 500 ended in tragedy when Earnhardt was killed in a final-lap crash. The what-ifs about Hendrick’s near-miss recruiting effort remain a tantalizing counterfactual in NASCAR history — a reminder of how a single decision might have reshaped careers and championships.
Latest News
