# 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

LHM made its debut at the 1990 Bud 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larry Pearson was the driver, qualifying 26th and finishing 14th. Pearson ran three more races with the team that season, never finishing lower than 19th.
The two teamed up again in 1991, running a limited schedule with Kellogg's and Jasper Engines & Transmissions sponsoring, with Robert "Boobie" Harrington stepping in as crew chief after the team parted ways with crew chief Jeffrey Ellis, moving operations from Ellis' North Wilkesboro based shop to Harrington's Kannapolis facility.
After signing a sponsorship deal for 1992 with Kellogg's Corn Flakes, the team parted ways with Pearson & Harrington, bringing in Greg Sacks as the team's (first full-time) driver, team manager Harry Hyde, & crew chief Dennis Connor. The team was moved to Statesville, operating out of Hedrick's 80-acre Statesville Auto Auction facility.
Things started off well, as Sacks put together five top-fifteen finishes as well as a 7th place qualifying effort at the TranSouth 500. Performance never improved and at the urging of team manager Harry Hyde, Sacks was replaced by long-time independent Dave Marcis, who hired Jim Sauter to drive for his racing team while he drove the 41 car. In a seven-race stretch, Marcis' best finish was 18th at the Southern 500. Sacks returned at the AC Delco 500 for a 33rd-place finish. Hut Stricklin finished out the last two races of the year. For the season-ending Hooters 500, the team switched from a Chevrolet Lumina to a Ford Thunderbird.

## Mid-1990s

In 1993, Manheim Auctions moved to full-time sponsorship, and Phil Parsons was hired to drive. Parsons finished 8th at North Carolina Motor Speedway, but was released in the final part of the year as Dick Trickle took his place, and had an outside-pole starting spot at the Slick 50 500, then followed it up with a fifth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After Trickle left at the end of the year, LHM signed 1992 Busch Series champion Joe Nemechek to compete for Rookie of the Year, sponsored by Meineke, for 1994 Nemechek had two consecutive top-five qualifying runs and finished 3rd at Pocono Raceway. When they were unable to clinch the rookie crown, Nemechek left to run his own team, and Hedrick signed another Busch Series veteran to compete for Cup rookie honors, Ricky Craven, as well as Kodiak as a sponsor. They had one top-five and four top-tens, defeating Robert Pressley for Rookie of the year. Craven was rewarded with a share of ownership in the Hedrick operation, and responded with two pole positions and five top-tens in 1996. He ran up near the top of the points standings very early in the season, but suffered a horrific crash at the Winston Select 500. Although he survived with no major injuries, his performance slipped after that, and many attribute that to a lack of confidence following that wreck. Craven left for Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 1996 season.

## Final years

Craven was replaced by Steve Grissom to pilot the 41 ride for 1997. Grissom qualified on the outside pole at the season-opening Daytona 500, and garnered six top-ten finishes throughout the season. The momentum did not carry over into 1998, and Grissom was released after the fall Bristol race. David Green and Rick Wilson shared the driving duties for the balance of the season, with Green getting the nod to drive in 1999. Green struggled, missing two races, and finished no higher than 18th. As the season came to a close, Green left for Tyler Jet Motorsports, and Trickle returned to the team. He DNQ'd for all but one of the races he attempted, and was replaced by Derrike Cope for three races, until Gary Bradberry finished out the season.
With no driver for 2000 and Kodiak leaving the team, Hedrick decided to hire journeyman Rick Mast to drive. After a long search, LHM signed Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce as sponsor. The team struggled at first, but when Mast left for A.J. Foyt Racing, many questions began surrounding the organization. It was soon revealed that Big Daddy's had neglected to pay their sponsorship fees, and had instead given Hedrick 11 million shares of stock in the company. Hedrick tried to get a cash deal with New Holland as well as ordering Big Daddy's to pay their money, with neither working out. The stocks were later proven to be worthless. During this time, Bradberry returned for a three-race deal, but the team took the rest of the year off because of the sponsorship problems. After no other sponsorship opportunities came up in 2001, Hedrick sold the team.
Hedrick died on August 31, 2020, at the age of 79.

## Driver history

* Larry Pearson (1990–91)
* Greg Sacks (1992)
* Dave Marcis (1992)
* Hut Stricklin (1992, Phoenix and Atlanta only)
* Phil Parsons (1993)
* Dick Trickle (1993, 1999)
* Joe Nemechek (1994)
* Ricky Craven (1995–96)
* Steve Grissom (1997–98)
* David Green (1998–99)
* Derrike Cope (1999)
* Gary Bradberry (1999–2000)
* Rick Mast (2000)

## Motorsports career results
### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

#### Car No. 41 results

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results :
| Year | Driver | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | Owners | Pts |
| 1990 | Larry Pearson | 41 | Chevy | DAY | RCH | CAR | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | CLT | DOV | SON | POC | MCH | DAY | POC | TAL | GLN | MCH | BRI 14 | DAR 17 | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS DNQ | CLT 19 | CAR 19 | PHO | ATL | | | | | | 39th | 445 |
| 1991 | Larry Pearson | 41 | Chevy | DAY | RCH | CAR | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS DNQ | MAR | TAL 41 | CLT 41 | DOV | SON | POC 32 | MCH 20 | DAY 21 | POC | TAL 17 | GLN | MCH | BRI DNQ | DAR 30 | RCH 36 | DOV 30 | MAR | NWS | CLT DNQ | CAR | PHO 33 | ATL 14 | | | | | | 38th | 848 |
| 1992 | Greg Sacks | 41 | Chevy | DAY 14 | CAR 34 | RCH 32 | ATL 31 | DAR 28 | BRI 13 | NWS 21 | MAR 12 | TAL 35 | CLT 16 | DOV 19 | SON 43 | POC 11 | MCH 14 | DAY 26 | POC 29 | TAL 19 | GLN 31 | MCH 41 | | | | | | | | CAR 33 | | | | | | | | 29th | 2482 |
| 1992 | Dave Marcis | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | BRI 32 | DAR 18 | RCH 24 | DOV 26 | MAR 25 | NWS 28 | CLT 39 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 29th | 2482 |
| 1992 | Hut Stricklin | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | PHO 15 | ATL 41 | | | | | | | | | 29th | 2482 |
| 1993 | Phil Parsons | 41 | Chevy | DAY 22 | CAR 8 | RCH 16 | ATL 39 | DAR 36 | BRI 31 | NWS 18 | MAR 20 | TAL 19 | SON 37 | CLT 12 | DOV 37 | POC 14 | MCH 13 | DAY 25 | NHA 39 | POC 18 | TAL 22 | GLN 33 | MCH 19 | BRI 14 | DAR 21 | RCH 20 | DOV 37 | MAR 19 | | | | | | | | | | 28th | 2849 |
| 1993 | Dick Trickle | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NWS 30 | CLT 22 | CAR 9 | PHO 31 | ATL 5 | | | | | | | 28th | 2849 |
| 1994 | Joe Nemechek | 41 | Chevy | DAY DNQ | CAR 36 | RCH 21 | ATL 18 | DAR 19 | BRI 16 | NWS DNQ | MAR 22 | TAL 42 | SON 22 | CLT 33 | DOV 14 | POC 32 | MCH 7 | DAY 39 | NHA 19 | POC 3 | TAL 35 | IND 20 | GLN 8 | MCH 21 | BRI 29 | DAR 42 | RCH 28 | DOV 36 | MAR 22 | NWS 34 | CLT 11 | CAR 17 | PHO 25 | ATL 23 | | | | 28th | 2673 |
| 1995 | Ricky Craven | 41 | Chevy | DAY 16 | CAR 16 | RCH 38 | ATL 12 | DAR 42 | BRI 29 | NWS 33 | MAR 18 | TAL 17 | SON 25 | CLT 10 | DOV 22 | POC 26 | MCH 33 | DAY 22 | NHA 31 | POC 25 | TAL 26 | IND 31 | GLN 10 | MCH 7 | BRI 32 | DAR 18 | RCH 29 | DOV 22 | MAR 35 | NWS 21 | CLT 25 | CAR 8 | PHO 24 | ATL 30 | | | | 25th | 2883 |
| 1996 | Ricky Craven | 41 | Chevy | DAY 13 | CAR 3 | RCH 17 | ATL 12 | DAR 3 | BRI 9 | NWS 7 | MAR 12 | TAL 36 | SON 31 | CLT 37 | DOV 14 | POC 17 | MCH 29 | DAY 22 | NHA 26 | POC 20 | TAL 19 | IND 34 | GLN 36 | MCH 18 | BRI 21 | DAR 42 | RCH 28 | DOV 35 | MAR 26 | NWS 22 | CLT 5 | CAR 22 | PHO 34 | ATL 35 | | | | 22nd | 3078 |
| 1997 | Steve Grissom | 41 | Chevy | DAY 40 | CAR 24 | RCH 11 | ATL 33 | DAR DNQ | TEX 10 | BRI 32 | MAR 20 | SON 17 | TAL 41 | CLT 11 | DOV 24 | POC 18 | MCH 38 | CAL 17 | DAY 38 | NHA 4 | POC 30 | IND 26 | GLN 9 | MCH 25 | BRI 5 | DAR 21 | RCH 12 | NHA 4 | DOV 21 | MAR 40 | CLT 13 | TAL 32 | CAR 24 | PHO 8 | ATL 28 | | | 23rd | 3061 |
| 1998 | Steve Grissom | 41 | Chevy | DAY 28 | CAR 20 | LVS 39 | ATL 16 | DAR 19 | BRI 16 | TEX 10 | MAR 25 | TAL 16 | CAL 30 | CLT 32 | DOV 32 | RCH 39 | MCH 41 | POC 23 | SON 10 | NHA 43 | POC 39 | IND 23 | GLN 38 | MCH 33 | BRI DNQ | NHA 25 | DAR 20 | RCH 17 | DOV DNQ | | | | | | | | | 37th | 2228 |
| 1998 | David Green | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | MAR DNQ | CLT 43 | | | PHO 37 | CAR 26 | ATL 41 | | 37th | 2228 |
| 1998 | Rick Wilson | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | TAL DNQ | DAY DNQ | | | | | | | 37th | 2228 |
| 1999 | David Green | 41 | Chevy | DAY DNQ | CAR 18 | LVS 27 | ATL 21 | DAR 42 | TEX 26 | BRI 33 | MAR 26 | TAL 33 | CAL 25 | RCH 43 | CLT 27 | DOV 18 | MCH 35 | POC 38 | SON 36 | DAY 33 | NHA DNQ | POC 41 | IND 20 | GLN 37 | MCH 32 | BRI 25 | DAR 42 | RCH 33 | | | | | | | | | | 41st | 1888 |
| 1999 | Dick Trickle | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NHA DNQ | DOV DNQ | MAR DNQ | CLT 41 | | | | | | | | | 41st | 1888 |
| 1999 | Derrike Cope | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | TAL 37 | CAR 25 | PHO 43 | HOM DNQ | | 41st | 1888 |
| 1999 | Gary Bradberry | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ATL 35 | 41st | 1888 |
| 2000 | Rick Mast | 41 | Chevy | DAY 28 | CAR 33 | LVS DNQ | ATL 21 | DAR 30 | BRI 34 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 51st | 481 |
| 2000 | Gary Bradberry | 41 | Chevy | | | | | | | TEX 41 | MAR 33 | TAL DNQ | CAL | RCH | CLT | DOV | MCH | POC | SON | DAY | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | NHA | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | CAR | PHO | HOM | ATL | 51st | 481 |