The words came haltingly at first, so haltingly that Rick Hendrick apologized for the emotions that grabbed hold of his throat that morning in November when he first spoke publicly about the plane crash that had killed 10 family members and friends.
After thanking those who had offered their time, support and prayers in the aftermath -- from the rescue workers who combed the remote, mountain-side site of the Oct. 24 crash to the thousands of fans who sent condolences -- Hendrick vowed his NASCAR teams would continue.
"I love this sport, and my family loves this sport," Hendrick said then. "To honor all of those people on that plane, I am more committed to this sport than I ever have been."
It was impossible to imagine then how Hendrick could go on after losing his brother, only son and two nieces in the crash. It was equally unfathomable that his stock-car racing empire, Hendrick Motorsports, could regroup after losing its president (John Hendrick), general manager (Jeff Turner), chief engine builder (Randy Dorton) and heir apparent (Ricky Hendrick).
As NASCAR readies for Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500, there is ample evidence that Hendrick Motorsports has not simply survived the tragedy but has returned to the racetrack even stronger, viewed as favorites to win Sunday's prestigious race and claim the 2005 championship, as well.
Jimmie Johnson won last weekend's all-star race, the Bud Shootout, in the No. 48 Hendrick Chevrolet. He'll start second in Sunday's 500, with teammate Jeff Gordon, a two-time Daytona 500 winner and four-time series champion, lining up in a car that's faster than its 15th place starting spot suggests.
The key, according to Gordon, is the depth and dedication among the 450 employees at Hendrick's Concord, N.C.-based racing complex. Dorton's successors were plucked from among the 90 mechanics in the engine shop, which supplies motors not only for Hendrick's five NASCAR Nextel Cup teams, but other race teams, as well. Hendrick's son-in-law, Marshall Carlson, signed on as the new general manager. And countless others instinctively shouldered more responsibility.
"I think a true sign of how good your organization is, is when you have to reach into the depths of it and really challenge those people," said Gordon, 33. "They've been challenged, and they've stepped up -- not only for our cars and our engines, but the other teams we supply."
In grappling with his personal loss, Hendrick drew on the heart-rending experience that has touched far too many lives in NASCAR.
Stock-car racing's history has been written by family dynasties that have passed down an affinity for tuning engines and turning left like some peculiar strand of DNA. The Pettys, Allisons and Earnhardts have each reveled in NASCAR's glory over the years, yet none has been immune from tragedy.
Bobby Allison, NASCAR's 1983 champion, buried both his sons, racers Clifford and Davey, in the early 1990s. Seven-time champion Richard Petty lost his grandson, fourth-generation racer Adam Petty, in a crash at Loudon, N.H., in May 2000. The next February, seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona.
So it was sadly natural that Kyle Petty, Adam's father, was among the first to call Hendrick after October's plane crash.
"One of the things Kyle said that meant a lot to me was that there are 365 days in a year, and there are 38 checkered flags and the rest of the time we're all together here in buses and planes and pit road," Hendrick said. "You spend more time with these folks in the garage than you do with your own family. When somebody hurts, everybody hurts."
Nearly five years later, Petty Enterprises is still recovering from its loss. Adam was its future, groomed in stock-car racing's developmental leagues to take over for his father, Kyle, who had taken over for his father, Richard, who had taken over for the patriarch, Lee.
After Adam's death at age 19, Kyle Petty took his son's car number, 45, and now races it in his memory. As a more lasting legacy, he and his wife, Pattie, opened a camp for chronically and terminally ill children, known as Victory Junction. And they're coming to terms with the fact that once Kyle retires from racing (he is now 44), it will mark the first time a Petty isn't behind the wheel of a Petty Enterprises car. Austin Petty, 22, works in the family's shop, which fields the No. 43 and 45 Dodges in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series, but doesn't race himself.
"We have always been proud to have Petty Enterprises and to have a Petty drive, no matter how we run on the racetrack," Kyle Petty said Friday. "That's who we were. We'll continue to be a part of the sport, but we've come to realize that that will happen. The idea is to put a driver in the car who has more of a Petty philosophy of how they approach the sports, how they approach the fans and how they approach the media."
For the past four decades, that philosophy has been based on respect. Added Petty: "There are some drivers out there now who probably wouldn't be a Petty driver -- drivers that are winning races. We've got to continue to stay true to who we are."
Daytona Notes: Mark Martin's team worked Friday to repair his No. 6 Ford, which was badly damaged in a seven-car melee during Thursday's qualifying races, so he could run it in Sunday's 500 rather than use a backup car. Kevin Harvick, who started the fracas by bumping Jimmie Johnson, will use a backup, as will Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Dave Blaney. . . .
At the direction of NASCAR President Mike Helton, Harvick and Johnson met privately Thursday night to resolve hostility between them. Johnson called for Harvick to be fired after the crash but was more subdued Friday, saying: "It's time to move forward and make sure everything is put behind us." . . .
Nemechek will start Saturday's Grand National race from the pole, having qualified at 182.452 mph. It's his fifth Daytona pole.
