Former Virginia asphalt late model racer Roy Hendrick passed away on Saturday. He was 70 years old.
Hendrick, the son of of late legendary racer Ray Hendrick and Uncle to NASCAR Cup Series team owner Rick Hendrick, won South Boston Speedway’s first NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division race in 1983 and won South Boston’s first NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division championship that same year.
Notably, Hendrick won 14 NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division races at South Boston during his career with his last win at the speedway coming in 1991.
“Roy was always smiling and had a great personality about him that once you met him you would never forget him,” said former South Boston Speedway general manager Cathy Rice, who currently serves as an advisor and consultant for the speedway.
“There are so many stories that we could tell about Roy, but the one thing I know is he will always be a legend in motorsports and his memories will live forever here at South Boston Speedway,” Rice said.
Rice had known Hendrick for many years.
“Back in the day Roy raced against my brother-in-law, the late Earl Rice, in the division that at the time was called Limited Sportsman. My husband Allen, the former owner of A&E Race Cars and brother Earl built Roy’s Late Model car that raced at South Boston Speedway, the flying number 11 with the flame,” Rice added. “Roy was dominant at Southside Speedway, and he won many races there. Roy reminds me of his dad (Ray Hendrick) so much.”
“As are so many others in the racing community, all of us at South Boston Speedway are saddened by the passing of our former champion, Roy Hendrick,” said South Boston Speedway General Manager Brandon Brown. “Roy was a tough competitor and was one of the great drivers in Late Model Sportsman and Late Model Stock Car Division racing, not just here at South Boston Speedway, but across the region. Our condolences go out to Roy’s family, friends, and all who know him.”
Hendrick started his racing career in the limited sportsman division at South Boston in May of 1969 and won his first race at the track the following season. Three years later he won his first track championship at Southside Speedway in Richmond, Virginia.
Hendrick moved up to the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Division, now known as the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Driving a car owned by “Blue” Burton, he won 12 races in 1982. He won a 150-lap NASCAR Late Model Sportsman National Championship race at South Boston on July 14, 1979.
In 1982, Hendrick moved to the NASCAR Late Model Stock Car Division, and in 1983 he won the NASCAR track championship at Southside Speedway, South Boston and Orange County Speedway in Rougemont, North Carolina.
Driving a car owned by friend and former Halifax, Virginia business owner Jim Irby, Hendrick won the NASCAR track championship at Southside Speedway in 1989, 1990 and 1991. In 1991, Hendrick won 24 out of 27 races at the Richmond, Virginia oval.