October 24, 2004
A Beechcraft Super King Air aircraft, registered and owned by Hendrick Motorsports, crashed into mountainous terrain in Stuart, Virginia, during a missed approach to Blue Ridge Airport. All ten people on board were killed.
("Careflight Beechcraft 200 Super King Air DRW Butler" by Eugene Butler jetphotos.net)
A Beechcraft Super King Air aircraft, registered and owned by Hendrick Motorsports, crashed into mountainous terrain in Stuart, Virginia, during a missed approach to Blue Ridge Airport. All ten people on board were killed.
(A Beechcraft Super King Air 200, similar to the one involved in the crash)
The King Air took off from Concord, North Carolina, at 12 pm EST, carrying eight passengers and two flight crew. Among them were several key Hendrick Motorsports staff, including team president John Hendrick and his twin daughters, Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick; former NASCAR Busch Series driver and owner Ricky Hendrick, son of Rick Hendrick; general manager Jeff Turner and chief engine builder Randy Dorton.
The other people on board were; DuPont executive Joe Jackson and pilots Richard Tracy, Elizabeth Morrison and Scott Lathram, a pilot for driver Tony Stewart.
The plane was en route to the Subway 500 Nextel Cup Series race at Martinsville, Virginia, when it was reported missing at 3:00 pm. Eventually 9-1-1 was called, and fire trucks and police cars patrolled the Virginia area during the race itself. Around midway through the race, searchers patrolling the nearby Bull Mountain's peak found airplane wreckage on the summit. When removing the wreckage from the summit they found the bodies of the Hendrick group at 11:05 pm. Everyone on board had been killed. A search by firefighters also discovered a scar on the mountain of moved dirt; the discovery proved that the airplane crashed on the side of the mountain and the explosion blew the wreckage and group upward.
NASCAR received word of the plane crash halfway through the race at Martinsville. Hendrick Motorsports won the race as a team victory but after the race was over, NASCAR immediately summoned all the Hendrick Motorsports drivers, including the race winner Jimmie Johnson, to the Oval Office and all victory lane ceremonies were cancelled.
The week following the crash, officials at the Atlanta Motor Speedway held a moment of silence before both the Busch and Nextel Cup races and lowered the flags to half staff. All the Hendrick Motorsports cars carried tributes on the hoods for those who were lost the week before. Jimmie Johnson, who won the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 race and the rest of his teammates and crew wore their caps backwards in victory lane as a tribute to Ricky Hendrick, who had a habit of doing the same. At the Hendrick museum in Concord, North Carolina, 300 people showed up for a candlelight vigil in honor of the ten victims.
(Photo; "Nascarphx14" by Brian Cantoni - Flickr.com - image description page)
Brian Vickers' hood design pays tribute to the people killed in the plane crash.
See our; Ricky Hendrick Tribute Page
The King Air took off from Concord, North Carolina, at 12 pm EST, carrying eight passengers and two flight crew. Among them were several key Hendrick Motorsports staff, including team president John Hendrick and his twin daughters, Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick; former NASCAR Busch Series driver and owner Ricky Hendrick, son of Rick Hendrick; general manager Jeff Turner and chief engine builder Randy Dorton.
The other people on board were; DuPont executive Joe Jackson and pilots Richard Tracy, Elizabeth Morrison and Scott Lathram, a pilot for driver Tony Stewart.
The plane was en route to the Subway 500 Nextel Cup Series race at Martinsville, Virginia, when it was reported missing at 3:00 pm. Eventually 9-1-1 was called, and fire trucks and police cars patrolled the Virginia area during the race itself. Around midway through the race, searchers patrolling the nearby Bull Mountain's peak found airplane wreckage on the summit. When removing the wreckage from the summit they found the bodies of the Hendrick group at 11:05 pm. Everyone on board had been killed. A search by firefighters also discovered a scar on the mountain of moved dirt; the discovery proved that the airplane crashed on the side of the mountain and the explosion blew the wreckage and group upward.
NASCAR received word of the plane crash halfway through the race at Martinsville. Hendrick Motorsports won the race as a team victory but after the race was over, NASCAR immediately summoned all the Hendrick Motorsports drivers, including the race winner Jimmie Johnson, to the Oval Office and all victory lane ceremonies were cancelled.
The week following the crash, officials at the Atlanta Motor Speedway held a moment of silence before both the Busch and Nextel Cup races and lowered the flags to half staff. All the Hendrick Motorsports cars carried tributes on the hoods for those who were lost the week before. Jimmie Johnson, who won the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 race and the rest of his teammates and crew wore their caps backwards in victory lane as a tribute to Ricky Hendrick, who had a habit of doing the same. At the Hendrick museum in Concord, North Carolina, 300 people showed up for a candlelight vigil in honor of the ten victims.
Brian Vickers' hood design pays tribute to the people killed in the plane crash.
See our; Ricky Hendrick Tribute Page
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