By Fred Jeter, special correspondent

If you were to script a book on the history of Southside Speedway, you’d find the name Hendrick on about every page.

First Ray, then Roy and now Brandon Hendrick have ranked with the swiftest and most daring drivers at the one-third mile asphalt oval on Genito Road.

“It’s a lot of pressure, really, being a Hendrick,” said Brandon, 29, currently second in points in the featured Late Model Sportsman class. “Everyone talks about my dad and my grandfather and how many races they won … They expect me to do the same.”

The Midlothian High graduate – a third generation racing Hendrick - hasn’t disappointed.

In his No. 39 red, white and black Chevy Impala, the youngest Hendrick has taken three checkered flags and leads the LMS standings with 2,820 points after seven races.
“I’m in a great car,” said Brandon. “It’s got the best of everything.”

And don’t think for an instant that father Roy, 56, has retired to the rocking chair. Far from it.

Roy Hendrick, who operates automotive repair shops in Moseley and western Henrico, was second to LMS track champion Shayne Lockhart a year ago and is in 13th place this season.

Both Brandon and Roy Hendrick compete for the Chesterfield Berry Farm team owned by Richard and Christy Goode.

Basically, father and son swapped rides this season.

Brandon, a mechanic in his dad’s West Broad shop, is driving the same car Roy ran last year.

And Roy is driving the car his son drove in ’08, when Brandon finished 10th overall.

“So far, I haven’t been fast enough to be competitive with Brandon,” said Roy. “But by the end of the year I will be.”

Asked about racing against his father, Brandon said, “It’s awesome; I think every driver would love the chance to race against their dad … Only in our case it’s even better because we’re on the same team.”

The legendary Ray Hendrick, who died in 1990, won some 700 stock car races – many at Southside and many more all over America.

In 1974 and ’75, he was eighth and ninth, respectively, in the National LMS Chase – equivalent of the current Busch Series.

Ray Hendrick also had six top-five finishes on NASCAR’s big-league Winston Cup Series.

Roy Hendrick, following in his dad’s tire tracks, has won Southside track crowns in ’83, ’90 and ’91.

Part of the Hendrick legacy involves the “Flying 11” car number – a No. 11 with a wing attached.

Roy’s Berry Farm racer currently sports the Flying 11.

Showing off that Hendrick flair, Brandon Hendrick won Rookie of Year honors in the Grand Stock and Modified divisions before graduating to LMS three years back.

Brandon’s older brothers, Chuck and Jason, preceded him as competitors at Southside and in North Carolina.

The No. 39 Late Model car of Brandon Hendrick flies around Southside Speedway. - Photo by Patrick Dobbs

About the time his siblings were getting out of racing, Brandon hopped in.

“Brandon’s pretty smooth – especially when you consider he didn’t show much interest until he was about 21,” said Roy.

Brandon Hendrick was still in diapers when his mom, Janice Poates, began toting him to Southside on Friday nights.

“I remember going to sleep in the bleachers, with blankets on me,” he said.

Roy and Brandon Hendrick figure to compete at Southside for years to come.

And even that may not signal the end of the Hendrick chapters.

There’s another up-and-comer in the Hendrick clan.

Jacob Hendrick, the 8-year-old son of Chuck, is already tearing up the local go-kart circuit, to which Roy Hendrick, the doting grand-pa says, “Racing is a family tradition with the Hendricks.”