Hendrick is a man of his people

CONCORD, N.C. – A few days after Kyle Busch's firing from Hendrick Motorsports, speculation ran rampant about who would stay to work with new hire Dale Earnhardt Jr. and who would follow Busch to wherever he landed.

Alan Gustafson quickly removed his name from the mix.

"I'd rather sweep floors for Rick Hendrick than be a crew chief for someone else," Gustafson said.

In 25 years of racing in NASCAR's top series, Hendrick has built a powerhouse organization of 500-plus employees who have a fierce loyalty to their boss. They love working for "Mr. H." and put 100-percent effort into job performance. If the grass is possibly greener elsewhere, few ever bother finding out.

Steve Letarte started as a high schooler stocking the parts room and grew up to be Jeff Gordon's crew chief. Gustafson came aboard in the chassis shop when he was 24 and was Busch's crew chief six years later. Chad Knaus started as a tire changer on Gordon's original "Rainbow Warriors" pit crew, left briefly for a bigger job elsewhere, then returned to build Jimmie Johnson's three-time championship-winning team from scratch.

Even Tony Eury Jr. has come full cycle. He spent childhood summers sweeping floors and polishing cars at Hendrick with his grandfather, Robert Gee. When Earnhardt chose HMS in 2007 over every other team in the industry, Earnhardt used this example to demonstrate his affection for Hendrick: When Gee, one of the first employees at All-Star Racing (now Hendrick Motorsports) had aged well past his ability to perform as a fabricator, Hendrick let him continue to work.

He treats his employees as family – firing Casey Mears, a close friend of Hendrick's late son, Ricky, was a gut-wrenching business decision – and goes out of his way to offer a helping hand.

Sidelined several weeks with a fast-spreading sinus infection that kept him away from the track, Hendrick returned for last week's All-Star race on a scaled-back schedule. Thursday, he was still making his rounds at Lowe's Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, reconnecting with people he had not seen in several weeks. When an industry veteran updated Hendrick on an ailing family member, Hendrick said to him, "Tell me if there's anything I can do to help."

That kind of attention is what separates Hendrick from the other car owners. Of course Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress and Jack Roush have good employee relationships, but none have established the kind of companywide adoration that Hendrick receives from his race team, his automotive organization and virtually everyone inside the Cup garage, including his competition.

When Gene Haas lured Tony Stewart away from Gibbs with the opportunity to own half the race team, it was the alliance with Hendrick that helped convince Stewart he could build a successful organization. And when Stewart looked for the right people to hire, he settled on Darian Grubb, a longtime HMS employee with a secure future with Hendrick.

Grubb surprised many by taking the job with Stewart.

"They're really fortunate, I think, to have gotten somebody like Darian,'' Gustafson said. "It's not often that somebody will leave our organization because they want to be around Rick. I know Darian has a huge amount of respect and admiration for Rick, but I know Rick also will take care of Darian regardless of what happens."

So why is it that Hendrick Motorsports, winner of four of the last six races, will go into Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 as the team to beat?

Hendick insists its just luck that has cycled his team to the top. But in reality, it's his ability to manage people better than anyone else in the business.

He agonized when bad luck and mechanical failures derailed the start of Mark Martin's season, and his engine shop employees worked tirelessly to make sure the boss would not have to explain another motor issue to Martin. Hendrick hasn't, and Martin has rebounded by winning two races.

Hendrick is miserable about Earnhardt's slump this year and is pouring over everything in an effort to fix the No. 88 team. He hears the calls for Eury to be replaced, but remains confident that he's still the best man for the difficult job as Earnhardt's crew chief.

"I've never believed that tearing something down is the solution," Hendrick said. "We'll keep working; we'll keep trying to figure it out. But ripping the whole thing apart isn't the answer."

Maybe Hendrick is being stubborn, and the loyalty he's extending to the grandson of an old friend is coming at the expense of one of his race teams. But it's hard to argue with his track record, and his decision-making has made HMS unarguably the best organization in NASCAR.

Aside from Earnhardt's group, the rest of the organization has hit its stride this season. Johnson's win March 29 at Martinsville – the day Hendrick celebrated his 25th anniversary in NASCAR – was the first of three-straight HMS wins.

Gordon, Johnson and Martin have combined for four wins this season, and Gordon heads into Sunday night as the Sprint Cup Series points leader. Developmental driver Brad Keselowski drove a James Finch-owned car to a surprise win at Talladega, and Stewart took Hendrick equipment to victory lane last weekend with his first All-Star race win.

Hendrick will look for another win this Sunday night at Lowe's, the track he considers home. Located mere minutes away from the HMS 600,000 square-foot compound, and just down the street from two of Hendrick's car dealerships, he invites employees and their families out to the track to enjoy a weekend of racing.

There's usually treated to a celebration – Hendrick drivers have won 15 races at LMS, including four of the past six Coca-Cola 600s.

"We love Lowe's Motor Speedway, the two weeks of racing are a big deal for us and all the employees we bring out to the race track," he said. "We like to do well there. We try really hard to make it a special weekend."

There's no doubt his teams will do their part Sunday.