HMS

One garage, four squads, eight cars, 14 computers and one team concept define the Hendrick Motorsports approach at Daytona. Other organizations may talk about a one-team approach, but talk is cheap. Hendrick lives by the philosophy. Never has one organization in NASCAR integrated four programs so smoothly. Athough HMS placed three teams in the top 10 in 2003--Jimmie Johnson, second; Jeff Gordon, fourth; and Terry Labonte, 10th--it was an accomplishment overlooked by many.

Joe Gibbs Racing, with drivers Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart, was the only other shop to place more than one team in the top 10.

But no motorsports conglomerate other than HMS could boast four different race winners on its Cup roster and the Busch champion, Brian Vickers. HMS drivers won eight Cup races, giving Hendrick 109.

It's a platform for winning championships. It's also a dramatic departure from the Ray Evernham us-vs.-them days in the mid-1990s, when he guided Gordon to three titles. Back then, the wealth of information Evernham developed as crew chief was seldom shared with the other Hendrick teams.

The evolution of HMS did not occur overnight. After Evernham's departure in 1999, Robbie Loomis became Gordon's crew chief. Crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Jim Long were hired in December 2001 to run Johnson's No. 48 team and Labonte's No. 5. And before the crew chief for Vickers' No. 25, Peter Sospenzo, was added to the roster, Hendrick and competition director Ken Howes surveyed the other crew chiefs.

"They asked who would not only fit in with that team but also be able to communicate well with the rest of us," Knaus says. "It was a group decision to bring Peter in because we all thought he was the type of guy who could get along and guide a rookie driver when the time came and make the team successful.

"It's been a group effort to make the whole team work like this because it's not easy. You have to put forth the effort to go out there and communicate with the guy that's two garage stalls down from you when you're trying to make your own car go fast. You have to put forth the effort to call him when you're testing in Rockingham and he's in Las Vegas."

Gordon says it always has been Hendrick's vision to see the teams "working so together, sharing so much information and having the talent" that HMS possesses. Gordon also sees battling three other teams equal to his as a challenge.

"But that's a good thing," Gordon says. "You still have those resources to tap into. It still has taken time to build that chemistry and the way you build the cars to be on the same page. We're as close as we've ever been, and that's going to help separate us from the rest."

Gordon says the turning point was bringing Johnson's No. 48 team into the program full time in 2002.

But HMS had to have the groundwork laid for Johnson to flourish, and Johnson, in his first two full Cup seasons, has been in the top 10 in points after all but the first three races of his rookie season. He's a serious threat for the championship this year.

Vickers will follow Johnson's footsteps this season, and Kyle Busch, who'll run a full Busch schedule in 2004, will be introduced to Nextel Cup over the next couple of years.

With a recipe for success and lineup that's second to none, Rick Hendrick's vision is now his reality.

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SPEED READ

* Expect the seat time Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson receive in the Rolex 24 to help their road course performances in the future. Although sports cars vary greatly from stocks, the opportunity to turn left and right and work with seasoned road specialists will benefit these Cup drivers at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

INSIDE DISH

NASCAR vice chairman Bill France Jr. flatly denies that television partners FOX Sports, NBC and TNT wielded any influence in the new points and playoff systems. "You don't let someone else drive your car, do you?" France says. But he warns the "doubting Thomases to beware" of passing judgment on the new systems too hastily. "Sometimes we're right, and sometimes we're wrong;' he says. "And if it turns out that it's not the smart thing to do, then we'll fix it." France says the networks have persuaded NASCAR to start some races later and run more of them at night, but any changes in the points or playoff systems come from NASCAR.... NASCAR held safety meetings with drivers and crew chiefs during both Daytona testing sessions to update them on the latest advancements. NASCAR said it plans to have the SAFER barriers installed at every Nextel Cup track where they are recominended by the start of the 2005 season.... Could NASCAR be looking at shortening the fields? Just 38 full-time teams showed up for Daytona testing. Decreasing the fields from 43 to 38 cars could be considered in the future.... Teams noticed more wear on the softer Goodyear tires at Daytona. Most teams lost a full second per lap over fuel runs that averaged 33 to 39 laps. That means tire specialists expect to have more four-tire pit stops during the Daytona 500.... The PPI, MB2, MBV and Morgan-McClure teams, which raced the Grand Prix last season and switched to Chevrolets after Pontiac left the sport, should benefit from aerodynamic consulting help provided by former Ford and Joe Gibbs Racing engineer Louis Duncan.--L.S.

LEE SPENCER'S

Ispencer@sportingnews.com

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