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.

The team is not related to Hendrick Motorsports despite sharing similar last name.

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 seventh 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 eighth 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 third 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

Winston Cup (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 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 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 BRI14 DAR17 RCH DOV MAR NWSDNQ CLT19 CAR19 PHO ATL 39th 445 1991 DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWSDNQ MAR TAL41 CLT41 DOV SON POC32 MCH20 DAY21 POC TAL17 GLN MCH BRIDNQ DAR30 RCH36 DOV30 MAR NWS CLTDNQ CAR PHO33 ATL14 38th 848 1992 Greg Sacks DAY14 CAR34 RCH32 ATL31 DAR28 BRI13 NWS21 MAR12 TAL35 CLT16 DOV19 SON43 POC11 MCH14 DAY26 POC29 TAL19 GLN31 MCH41 CAR33 29th 2482 Dave Marcis BRI32 DAR18 RCH24 DOV26 MAR25 NWS28 CLT39 Hut Stricklin PHO15 ATL41 1993 Phil Parsons DAY22 CAR8 RCH16 ATL39 DAR36 BRI31 NWS18 MAR20 TAL19 SON37 CLT12 DOV37 POC14 MCH13 DAY25 NHA39 POC18 TAL22 GLN33 MCH19 BRI14 DAR21 RCH20 DOV37 MAR19 28th 2849 Dick Trickle NWS30 CLT22 CAR9 PHO31 ATL5 1994 Joe Nemechek DAYDNQ CAR36 RCH21 ATL18 DAR19 BRI16 NWSDNQ MAR22 TAL42 SON22 CLT33 DOV14 POC32 MCH7 DAY39 NHA19 POC3 TAL35 IND20 GLN8 MCH21 BRI29 DAR42 RCH28 DOV36 MAR22 NWS34 CLT11 CAR17 PHO25 ATL23 28th 2673 1995 Ricky Craven DAY16 CAR16 RCH38 ATL12 DAR42 BRI29 NWS33 MAR18 TAL17 SON25 CLT10 DOV22 POC26 MCH33 DAY22 NHA31 POC25 TAL26 IND31 GLN10 MCH7 BRI32 DAR18 RCH29 DOV22 MAR35 NWS21 CLT25 CAR8 PHO24 ATL30 25th 2883 1996 DAY13 CAR3 RCH17 ATL12 DAR3 BRI9 NWS7 MAR12 TAL36 SON31 CLT37 DOV14 POC17 MCH29 DAY22 NHA26 POC20 TAL19 IND34 GLN36 MCH18 BRI21 DAR42 RCH28 DOV35 MAR26 NWS22 CLT5 CAR22 PHO34 ATL35 22nd 3078 1997 Steve Grissom DAY40 CAR24 RCH11 ATL33 DARDNQ TEX10 BRI32 MAR20 SON17 TAL41 CLT11 DOV24 POC18 MCH38 CAL17 DAY38 NHA4 POC30 IND26 GLN9 MCH25 BRI5 DAR21 RCH12 NHA4 DOV21 MAR40 CLT13 TAL32 CAR24 PHO8 ATL28 23rd 3061 1998 DAY28 CAR20 LVS39 ATL16 DAR19 BRI16 TEX10 MAR25 TAL16 CAL30 CLT32 DOV32 RCH39 MCH41 POC23 SON10 NHA43 POC39 IND23 GLN38 MCH33 BRIDNQ NHA25 DAR20 RCH17 DOVDNQ 37th 2228 David Green MARDNQ CLT43 PHO37 CAR26 ATL41 Rick Wilson TALDNQ DAYDNQ 1999 David Green DAYDNQ CAR18 LVS27 ATL21 DAR42 TEX26 BRI33 MAR26 TAL33 CAL25 RCH43 CLT27 DOV18 MCH35 POC38 SON36 DAY33 NHADNQ POC41 IND20 GLN37 MCH32 BRI25 DAR42 RCH33 41st 1888 Dick Trickle NHADNQ DOVDNQ MARDNQ CLT41 Derrike Cope TAL37 CAR25 PHO43 HOMDNQ Gary Bradberry ATL35 2000 Rick Mast DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI 51st 481 Gary Bradberry TEX41 MAR33 TALDNQ 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

Busch Series (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 Year Team 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 Pts 1999 David Green 41 Chevy DAY CARDNQ LVS22 ATL DAR7 TEX22 NSV BRI33 TAL10 CAL14 NHA RCH16 NZH CLT14 DOV4 SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH14 BRI19 DAR40 RCH7 CLT18 CAR9 MEM PHO HOM7 36th 2032 46 DOV7

References

External links LHM owner stats