Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports was honored with the Bill France Award of Excellence at the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony. The award was presented to Hendrivk by Betty Jane France, wife of the late Bill France Jr., who guided the sport from 1971-2003. “I wasn’t expecting this one,” Hendrick said during his acceptance speech at the Wynn Las Vegas. “This award means so much to me because of the relationship I had with Bill France and the respect I had for him.” The award is not handed out annually by the France family, which has owned and operated NASCAR for 61 years. Named for NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., the award is presented when the NASCAR leadership believes someone is worthy of the recognition for contributions to the sport. “NASCAR has had many iconic figures throughout its rich history, and Rick Hendrick certainly falls into that category,” Betty Jane France said. “Through the years, he has not only won our respect but our hearts as well.” Hendrick did not know that Betty Jane France was at the banquet and the award was not listed in the agenda for the evening that celebrated Jimmie Johnson’s fourth consecutive title in a season where Hendrick drivers swept the top three spots in the standings. “I’ve never seen him where he’s in a position where he couldn’t say what was on his mind,” Johnson said after the ceremony. “It really got him. For a minute there, I thought he was going to need to sit down and start over and come back to the podium. It’s amazing. It means so much to Rick because of his friendship with Bill. I could only imagine how much that means to him. And then this year, you look at the 1-2-3 and all the success. You roll it all up in one, he’s going to remember 2009 forever.”(SceneDaily)(12-6-2009)
