Larry Hedrick (born December 12, 1940 - August 31, 2020) was a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

-born businessman and former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

team owner. In 1976, he formed Statesville Auto Auction, which became one of the largest and most profitable auto sales businesses until it was sold to

Manheim Auctions Manheim, Inc. is an automobile auction company and the world's largest wholesale auto auction, based on trade volume with 145 auctions located in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. As a subsidiary of Cox Automotive, a subsidiary of priv ...

in 1993. Hedrick also owned and operated

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 L ...

, a NASCAR team that debuted in 1990 with driver

Larry Pearson Larry Pearson (born November 2, 1953) is an American former stock car racing driver and the son of three-time Winston Cup champion David Pearson. He won the Busch Series championship in 1986 and 1987, but struggled during his brief tenure in Wins ...

. The following season, Hedrick signed

Kellogg's Corn Flakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his bro ...

for a limited schedule. Pearson was released at the end of the year in favor of

Greg Sacks Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka. Sacks has spent most of his career as ...

. Manheim Auctions joined the team as sponsor for 1993 with

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

and

Phil Parsons Phillip Parsons (born June 21, 1957) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and current analyst for FOX NASCAR. He is the younger brother of the 1973 Winston Cup champion and former NBC/ TNT commentator Benny Par ...

sharing driving duties. The following year, Hedrick signed former

Xfinity series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

champion

Joe Nemechek Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second mos ...

for a run at Rookie of the Year. Nemechek left at season's end to run his own team and was replaced by Ricky Craven. Craven would go on to win Rookie of the Year in 1995. In 1996, Craven earned five top-10 finishes before accepting an offer from Hendrick Motorsports. Steve Grissom became the team's driver in 1997 and sat on the outside pole at the season opening Daytona 500, earning six top 10s through the season—the most for Hedrick. In 1999, sponsor Kodiak moved to

Melling Racing Melling Racing was a Championship-winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series race team owned by Harry Melling and his son Mark Melling. Harry Melling ran the team from its inception in 1982, to mid-1999. When Harry died after a heart attack in mid-1999, ...

, leaving the team in search of sponsorship. In 2000 the team thought it had sponsorship from Big Daddy's BBQ Sauce, but the sponsor defaulted on the terms of its contract and the team shut its doors.

References

* 1940 births 2020 deaths NASCAR team owners People from North Carolina {{NASCAR-bio-stub 20th-century American businesspeople