Hendrick shining so bright, it's difficult to look away

First of all, it's not a shop. The sprawling collection of buildings nestled on a hilltop north of Charlotte is referred to as a campus, making you wonder if they sit outside and recite poetry during lunch. The newer structures are strikingly impressive inside and out, modern steel and glass edifices with walls and floors that gleam as if polished 10 times a day. Almost everyone wears a spotlessly white button-down-collar knit shirt.

The New York Yankees of NASCAR? Not quite. At Hendrick Motorsports there is no brashness, no bluster, no Boss stealing the headlines from his own team. This is more of an automotive version of the Duke basketball program -- courteous, polite and quietly confident people who have managed to replicate success with an almost Wall Street efficiency, who will cut your heart out on the racetrack and then smile and shake your hand afterward.

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And, in the process, make plenty of enemies. No organization in NASCAR is as beloved and reviled as Hendrick. Not coincidentally, no organization wins as much. Never has that been more evident than this season, where Hendrick cars have won seven of 10 races contested this season on the Nextel Cup tour. The domination shows no sign of slowing: Saturday night brings Darlington, where Jeff Gordon has won six times. Then it's two races at a Lowe's-sponsored track, where no one has been better than a certain Lowe's-sponsored driver.

Then it's Dover and another race for the Car of Tomorrow, in which Hendrick teams are currently 4-for-4. It's not out of the realm of possibility to foresee the series limping into Pocono in mid-June, battered and beaten by a Hendrick organization riding a 10-for-11 streak, with Jeff Burton's victory at Texas the lone aberration in an otherwise perfect run.

Oh, how that would have 'em howling -- and running right for the television. In American professional sports, nothing galvanizes a fan base like a dynasty. The NBA thrived when the Bulls were winning six titles in eight years. Tiger Woods breathed new life into the PGA Tour by winning 12 major championships over the last decade. Greatness splits the faithful into two camps, those for and those against, and both sides tune in. Which means all those people who rant and rave, claiming they'll never watch another race as long as Hendrick cars keep winning, will be right there in front of their televisions next weekend ranting and raving again.

Make no mistake about it; no organization in NASCAR is better right now. No team can boast three genuine championship contenders under its own roof. The team that pioneered the multi-car operation has nearly perfected it, using armies of personnel and a wave of satellite outfits to out-research and outperform everyone else on the circuit. Rumors are circulating in the Nextel Cup garage area that Hendrick has an incredible 100 days of testing in the Car of Tomorrow, a sure sign that their success is starting to rattle other teams. (Continued)