Larry Hedrick (December 12, 1940 – August 31, 2020) was an American businessman and former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

team owner. Born in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, in 1976, he formed Statesville Auto Auction, which became one of the largest and most profitable auto sales businesses until it was sold to

Manheim Auctions Manheim, Inc. is an automobile auction company, a subsidiary of Cox Automotive, a subsidiary of privately owned Cox Enterprises Cox Enterprises, Inc. is an American private company, privately held global conglomerate (company), conglomerate ...

in 1993. Hedrick also owned and operated

Larry Hedrick Motorsports Larry Hedrick Motorsports (LHM) was a NASCAR team. It was owned by businessman Larry Hedrick and always fielded the No. 41 Chevrolet in both the Winston Cup and the Busch Series. The team ran from 1990 until its closure in 2001. Beginnings ...

, a NASCAR team that debuted in 1990 with driver Larry Pearson. The following season, Hedrick signed Kellogg's Corn Flakes for a limited schedule. Pearson was released at the end of the season in favor of

Greg Sacks Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka. Sacks has spent most of his career a ...

. Manheim Auctions joined the team as sponsor for 1993 with

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

and

Phil Parsons Phillip Gregory Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and analyst for FOX NASCAR since 2003. After years racing in NASCAR Winston Cup, he returned to the Busch Series where he enj ...

sharing driving duties. The following year, Hedrick signed former

Xfinity series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

champion

Joe Nemechek Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second mos ...

for a run at Rookie of the Year. Nemechek left at season's end to run his own team and was replaced by

Ricky Craven Richard Allen Craven (born May 24, 1966) is an American stock car racing analyst and former driver. Prior to his broadcasting duties, he was a NASCAR driver who won in four different series—the ARCA Menards Series, and the three national series. ...

. Craven would go on to win Rookie of the Year in 1995. In 1996, Craven earned five top-10 finishes before accepting an offer from

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...

Steve Grissom Steven Paul Grissom (born June 26, 1963) is an American former stock car racing driver. He was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. Grissom turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alab ...

became the team's driver in 1997 and sat on the outside pole at the season opening Daytona 500, earning six top 10s through the season—the most for Hedrick. In 1999, sponsor Kodiak moved to

Melling Racing Melling Racing was a Championship-winning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Winston Cup Series race team owned by Harry Melling (NASCAR), Harry Melling and his son Mark Melling. Harry Melling ran the team from its inception in 1982, to mid-1999. When Har ...

, leaving the team in search of sponsorship. In 2000 the team thought it had sponsorship from Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce, but the sponsor defaulted on the terms of its contract and the team shut its doors.

References

* 1940 births 2020 deaths NASCAR team owners People from North Carolina {{NASCAR-bio-stub 20th-century American businesspeople