Entire team shares joy of Talladega win
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CONCORD, N.C. -- One by one, Hendrick Motorsports employees took their places Tuesday afternoon, forming a receiving line that reached into the deeper regions of the Nos. 48 and 88 shop. Rarely has being single-file meant so much to a NASCAR team.
With each movement forward, a resounding signal came from the Hendrick Victory Bell, a relatively new but already rich tradition. Each blast from the bell's clapper helped trumpet the No. 88 team's most recent Talladega Superspeedway triumph -- resounding in its own right -- courtesy of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt himself stood at the end of the line, individually congratulating each team member for the win nine days earlier. It was a moment to see Junior not as the 40-year-old son of anointed stock-car royalty or as NASCAR's most popular driver, but as merely another member of the team.
"I think he just likes to be really in tune with his guys," said Travis Peterson, in his first year as an engineer for the No. 88 operation. "He's obviously a huge figure and everybody sees that side of him, but I think he likes to just be his regular self and be buddies with everyone who's on his team, just to know you on a more personal level.
"He wants everyone to enjoy it and have a good time. He doesn't want it to be such a strict job. He wants everybody to enjoy racing, since for us, it's not a real job -- it's what we enjoy doing. We just make our hobby into a career."
Earnhardt shook every hand Tuesday to extend what was already a raucous celebration of his sixth career victory at Talladega. There was enough bell-ringing to make churches envious, but there was also the personal touch of heartfelt appreciation at the end of the line.
Since Earnhardt has an ownership stake in the Hendrick-affiliated JR Motorsports team, he's already comfortable keeping tabs on racing operations from the shop floor. But beyond the ownership connection, there's humility that transcends his at-track stardom.
"I don't think it's the ownership. It's just his personality," said Rob Lopes, the No. 88 Chevrolet's tire specialist. "He's one of us, he knows what it takes and what goes into this deal. He knows it's not just him, he knows it's not just us -- it's a whole team thing and he know that without us, there is no him and without him, there is no us. It's just 'us.' "
Lopes has been with the team since 2011, the year that HMS president Marshall Carlson first broached the idea for a Victory Bell tradition, taking a page from college football's playbook with the creation of unique trophies for rivalry games. In the five years since, Hendrick cars have scored 41 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
When the ritual was first created, Earnhardt was in the midst of a career-long slump that spanned more than three seasons. On the other side of the shop, stablemate Jimmie Johnson had just polished off the last of his five consecutive Sprint Cup championships for the No. 48 team.
Over the last two seasons, the division of success has balanced out somewhat, but the competitive fire hasn't. Each team wants its place at the bell's side. The fact that Tuesday's celebration happened to take place within earshot of the office of Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, wasn't lost on the No. 88 crew.
"In here, we're one. But at the end of the day, we're also competitors," said Adam Jordan, the No. 88 team's interior mechanic. "We work together, but man, I really want to beat Chad Knaus every single day of the week. He just gets pissed when we beat him and vice versa."
Said Lopes: "It's probably the healthiest competition out there, but it's also the best-oiled two-car team you're going to see. This building here has been referred to as one team that fields two cars, and that's the way we treat each other."
After the shop portion of the ceremony was complete, the Victory Bell was off for the rest of its journey, hitting virtually every office on Hendrick Motorsports' sprawling 100-plus-acre campus. Fittingly, Earnhardt did the driving, turning the upright controls that helped the wagon's go-kart wheels find their way around.
Peterson was able to celebrate atop the pit box -- by his own admission, excitably so -- at the track two weekends ago. But seeing the Victory Bell make its usual rounds, clanging all the while, brought home the team concept -- from the engine and machine shop all the way through accounting and human resources -- as the celebration touched all corners of the company.
"When you're traveling, you get to experience it going to Victory Lane, being part of the intense moments of the race, but watching on TV is just not the same," Peterson said. "Being able to bring this around and get everybody involved is great for everyone who is here on the weekdays while we're gone and keeps grinding on the cars."
WATCH IT AGAIN: Full race replay of Talladega, other races
Earnhardt handed a gift to each crew member as he exchanged greetings Tuesday afternoon. Inside each packet was a team-specific sticker commemorating the victory for each team member.
To hear the team members tell it, the celebration rarely deviates from its structured schedule, save for perhaps the recognition for winning the Daytona 500, NASCAR's crown jewel race. While a certain amount of routine goes into each Victory Bell celebration, Lopes said savoring the spoils while adding another chapter to the team's winning heritage never gets old.
"Any race, you don't ever take a win for granted because you never know when your next one is going to be and you never know when your last one is going to be," Lopes said. "So you treat them all special. The bigger milestone races, sure, they might hold a little bit more light up to it, but … a win's a win. The points are the same. The stickers that they put on next to a driver's name, they aren't a different color for a different race, they're all the same.
"A win's a win -- we'll take it."