Ricky Hendrick, full name Joseph Riddick Hendrick IV, (April 2, 1980 - October 24, 2004), born in Charlotte, was a NASCAR driver and owner affiliated with his father Rick Hendrick's Hendrick Motorsports team. He died on a team flight to the race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia along with his uncle, 2 cousins and six others. Ricky's fiancée, Emily Maynard, was pregnant with his child at the time of his death. His daughter, Josephine Riddick "Ricki" Hendrick, was born June 29, 2005.
Ricky started driving in the Busch Series at age 19 in 1999. He drove in the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series in 2000. Ricky won his first NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway in 2001 in CTS behind the wheel of the #17 truck. That year he was runner up for rookie of the year award. In 2002, he competed in the Busch series until a shoulder injury forced him to retire.
As an owner, Ricky won the Busch Series Championship in 2003, after having chosen to put driver Brian Vickers in the seat of the #5 GMAC Chevrolet Monte Carlo (the ride that he had retired from the previous year). At the time of his death, he was the owner of the #25 Ditech.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Nextel Cup Series with driver Brian Vickers, and the owner of the #5 Lowes Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Busch Series with driver Kyle Busch.
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