As engine director at Hendrick Motorsports, Randy Dorton managed more than 80 specialists who built and rebuilt 600-plus engines a year. Credit: Autostock

Dorton took much with him, left much behind

Some of the most engaging conversations of my life were with Randy Dorton. He'd been in NASCAR since my pajamas had booties, and my Gen-X analysis of the sport not only intrigued him, but often greatly amused him.

He'd listen intently as I ranted on about whatever frivolous revelation had tripped my trigger that week, then drop his chin to his chest, stare at his feet and grin. And just when it came time for the kicker in my argument, he'd chuckle and tell me how it really was.

	Marty Smith and Randy Dorton Credit: Special to NASCAR.COM
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For whatever reason, I was blessed to be educated by the most innovative engine builder of his time without ever so much as changing a sparkplug. I love hearing stories about him.

That's why the story newly-appointed Hendrick Motorsports general manager Marshall Carlson told me last week was so personally moving. It was consummate Randy Dorton.

Dorton, you see, was all about depth, loyalty, seeing it through to completion. He dug in, saw to it personally that his boys were NASCAR's elite. And like the boss man, Rick Hendrick, he rewarded the commitment required thereof.

Dorton's employees didn't jump ship for the next big thing. They stood fast, stayed true to their mentor -- some for two decades. He built a hierarchy so efficient that he could walk away and Hendrick Engines would continue running on all eight cylinders.

Then it happened. Dorton was among the 10 individuals killed last October when a Hendrick plane crashed near Martinsville, Va. Carlson's story begins right there.

Dorton's boys could easily have closed up shop, taken time to mourn. But Randy wouldn't have wanted it that way. Neither would Ricky and John Hendrick, for that matter. The loss was devastating, but there was work to do -- and not just for their own in-house teams, either.

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That's what's so striking to me about this story. Amid unimaginable grief, Randy's boys followed through with responsibilities to competitors.

"Randy Dorton set up an extremely proficient, deep and structured program, so it was obvious that, in that respect, that (the engine department) was prepared and capable to step up," Carlson said.

"Nemechek leases engines from us -- they show up at 8:30 every (Monday) morning with the engines. Well, that morning, the Monday after the accident - the very next day -- their engines showed up at 8:30."

Wow. I know this: Randy Dorton would have been proud of those boys at the moment those engines showed up at MB2's loading dock. At that moment, two decades spent assembling the best engine department in NASCAR came to fruition.

That was the moment Randy Dorton's devotion to excellence materialized.

Sure, he'd done it all on the racetrack, won championships with Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers and Jack Sprague. But what his pupils did in his absence was the true testament to Randy Dorton.

Makes me think of a country song by another Randy, Randy Travis. Travis' lyrics are spiritually focused, but Randy Dorton was a spiritual man, so they most certainly apply to his devotion to his trade, his friends and family:

"It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It's what you leave behind you when you go."

The opinions listed here are solely those of the writer.