Biography of Ray Hendrick
Ray Hendrick, known as “Mr Modified”, was born in Richmond, Virginia on April 1, 1929 and sadly died of cancer on September 28, 1990. Ray was well known for his philosophy on racing which is to “run anywhere.” place and everywhere”. He was a prolific runner, competing in hundreds of races on the speedway, earning him victories in some 712 races. This philosophy prevented him from completing a full season in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, so he never won this championship, but did post two top fives and six top 10s in seventeen starts.
His racing career spanned over thirty-four years and during this time he competed primarily in NASCAR Modified, driving his famous #11 modified winged coupe, owned by Jack Tant and Clayton Mitchell. Ray won five championships at South Boston Speedway, four while competing in the NASCAR Modified division and one in the NASCAR Lat Model Sportsman division. Although he never won a Modified National Championship, he finished in the Top 10 in Points nine times between the years 1960 and 1969 and also finished eighth and ninth respectively in 1974 and 1975 in the National Late Model Sportsman Points (later known as the Busch Grand National Division). ). In 1969 Ray won the Modified Race of Champions at the one-mile Langhorne Speedway and again in 1975 at the 1.5-mile oval in Trenton.
He became the first on Martinsville Speedway’s all-time winners list with twenty wins between 1963 and 1975, surpassing Richard Petty’s 15 wins. 1970 saw Ray win a 100-lap National Championship race on Memorial Day weekend.
He can be credited with the following awards: – inducted into the National Auto Racing Press Association Hall of Fame in 1993, named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, named one of the 10 Greatest Mods of All Time from NASCAR in 2003, was the first inductee into the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2003 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Darlington, South Carolina in 2007.
Ray achieved near-legendary status among the Modified and Grand National riders who battled him weekly for nearly 35 years. During the ’50s and ’60s, he teamed up with car owners Ira Smiley, John Tadlock and Jack Tant-Clayton Mitchell to win hundreds of Modified races from South Carolina to New England.
In June 1977, Langley Speedway honored Ray with a special night, a gala was organized to recognize Ray with a Silver Anniversary Late Model Sportsman 200, and the night before the unveiling, Ray and his family were delighted to attend a lavish banquet at The Chamberlin Hotel in Hampton. . Ray said at that time. “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me, I can’t imagine someone not feeling great about something like this.“
In June 1998, Al Pearce of the Daily Press wrote about five Virginians who have distinguished themselves as race car drivers. Daily Press Motorsports writer Al Pearce takes a look at all five: “RAY HENDRICK Born April 1, 1929, Died September 28, 1990…spent most of his career in NASCAR’s rugged Modified and Late Model Sportsman divisions, winning perhaps 900 races…competing against the legends from Modified Jerry Cook, Bugs Stevens, Richie Evans, Fred DeSarro and Bobby Allison, and against LMS stars Sonny Hutchins, Bill Dennis, Tommy Ellis, Jack Ingram and Sammy Ard… they drove cars prepared by Jack Tant and Clayton Mitchell. …love of Mods kept him from advancing to the Winston Cup…had six top 10 finishes in just 17 Cup starts in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s…inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame in the ’93.“He was truly a great NASCAR race car driver with a distinguished and illustrious career.