NASCAR racing legend and notable Chevrolet dealer Rick Hendrick has attended many Barrett-Jackson car auctions over the years, spending millions of dollars to buy unique Corvettes, but none of those auctions ever made the hair on his neck stand up — until April 18.
Hendrick told the Detroit Free Press that the crowd of about 1,000 at that Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach auction in Florida on April 18 watched several unique cars cross the stage and politely clapped. But they did not stand up and applaud for minutes on end until the auctioneers introduced some of the Medal of Honor recipients.
“When they announced the Medal of Honor guys, the crowd stood up and they roared and cheered … for minutes, it was not short,” Hendrick said. “When they walked on that stage the crowd went crazy. It made the hair on your neck stand up. It was amazing.”
Hendrick gets emotional when talking about the U.S. military and the service people who sacrifice for their country.
“I’m very patriotic when it comes to our country, our flag and our military,” Hendrick said.
So much so, that at that auction he paid $1 million to own a one-of-a-kind military vehicle made by General Motors’ subsidiary, GM Defense. A few months earlier, in January, Hendrick wrote a check for $2.6 million to own a one-of-a-kind special “Stars and Steel” Corvette ZRX1. In both cases, the money goes to support charities for those people who’ve served.
Hendrick’s homage to Medal of Honor recipients
Hendrick’s love of country and military started with his father, who served in the Army Air Corps in World War II flying B-26 high-speed twin-engine bombers, often dubbed “widow makers” because — well, you can figure it out. Hendrick said his father completed more than 70 missions. He was shot down once and he ran out fuel once, but he survived both times. Hendrick himself served six years in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Today, Hendrick often hosts veterans who have won the Medal of Honor — an award presented to military heroes by the president. It is the highest U.S. military decoration given to those who exhibit gallantry and risk of life beyond the call of duty.
Last year, Hendrick said he invited Medal of Honor recipient Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter to his Hendrick Motorsports campus in Concord, North Carolina, to talk to employees about the importance of teamwork. On Nov. 21, 2010, in Afghanistan, Carpenter intentionally threw himself onto a live enemy grenade to protect a fellow Marine, saving his comrade’s life and resulting in life-altering injuries to himself, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
At Hendrick Motorsports, the NASCAR racing team of engineers designs the roll cages and chassis for the Infantry Squad Vehicle-Utility (ISV-U) vehicles GM Defense builds for the government. Hendrick takes great pride, he said, in knowing what his team designs can save lives.
“They’ve rolled a couple of them with nine soldiers in each of them and they were safe. So they are well-engineered and it’s great to protect our soldiers,” Hendrick said. “It feels real good when they call you and tell you it happened and no one was hurt.”
It is for all those reasons that when Hendrick learned that the first-ever publicly offered GM Defense ISV-U would cross the auction block at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach on April 18, he had to have it. But there were others who also wanted it and many bids, he said.
“But I really wanted it because there were three or four guys I knew there (at auction) who’d won the Medal of Honor and it was for such a good cause,” Hendrick said. “It was something that would mean a lot to me forever. It means as much to me as some of the Corvettes I own, maybe more because of its theme. There will never be another one like this one.”
Hendrick’s collection is like no other
Hendrick is one of the largest Corvette collectors in the world with 137 of the GM-made sports cars currently in his 58,000-square-foot private garage, which he has dubbed the Heritage Center in Concord, North Carolina. In January 2025 he wrote a check to the American Red Cross for $3.7 million at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in Arizona to own the first production Corvette ZR1 to come off the line.
Then, in January 2026, he paid $2.6 million at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction to buy a one-of-a-kind “Stars & Steel inspired” Corvette ZR1X. It will have a special flag painted on its hood when he takes delivery of it in July at the GM Technical Center’s Design Dome in Warren, he said. That money goes to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that helps provide mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first-responder families.
In 2023, the Detroit Free Press took readers inside the Heritage Center, where, besides housing his car collection, it serves as a private tribute to Hendrick’s family history and his rise to owning nearly 100 car dealerships across several brands and his racing success that landed him a spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Hendrick is also in the Automotive Hall of Fame.
Hendrick, who grew up on a tobacco farm in Virginia and once sold everything he owned to buy a run-down car dealership, is now worth an estimated $1 billion, according to published reports. His spokesman has declined to comment on Hendrick’s personal net worth, but Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest NASCAR team in the history of the sport.
His dealership group, Hendrick Automotive Group, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, generated over $13.6 billion in revenue in 2025 after selling more than 215,000 vehicles and servicing 2.6 million cars and trucks, according to www.hendrickcars.com.
But a military vehicle is a bit at odds with his vast Corvette collection and family history themes at his Heritage Center.
Still — on April 18, there was no holding him back. In a matter of minutes, Hendrick outbid everyone and wrote a check for $1 million to own the ISV-U. His money will support the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, which helps to promote the Medal of Honor.
“The Corvette will be center stage in the Heritage Center,” Hendrick told the Detroit Free Press. “The ISV-U will be in the showroom at our technology center, which is right next door to where we do the military work. It’s got all the military; USA and Medal of Honor and special coins on it so it’s such a tribute.”
NASCAR honors fallen soldiers
On May 25, Memorial Day, during the Coca-Cola 600 race, formerly called the World 600, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hendrick said every NASCAR team will have the name of a fallen soldier on the windshield of the car and the surviving family members will be invited to meet the driver of the car with their loved one’s name on it.
Hendrick said the NASCAR race fans have great respect for the Medal of Honor recipients, who are often at the races he attends.
“When they introduce the Medal of Honor people, they get more of an ovation than anybody or anything,” Hendrick said. “It’s really amazing.”
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer for USA TODAY Co. who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why NASCAR legend Rick Hendrick spent $1M on a GM military vehicle
Reporting by Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
