- Former Cup Series team owner Larry Hedrick died earlier this week at the age of 79.  An auctioneer and businessman in North Carolina known outside of NASCAR for owning the Piedmont Boil Weevils (the predecessor to the Kannapolis Intimidators, now the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers), Hedrick entered Cup in 1990 with Larry Pearson driving his No. 41 Chevrolet.  Sponsorship from Kellogg's allowed the team to expand their activity, first with Pearson, then full-time with Greg Sacks driving in 1992.  The team earned their first top five finish in 1993 when Dick Trickle finished fifth in the 1993 Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The team was at their strongest during the time that Ricky Craven was driving the No. 41 with Kodiak sponsorship.  Craven had an excellent start to the 1996 season and entered Talladega fourth in points.  The infamous crash that followed more or less derailed his season, but he still finished 20th in points.

Hedrick's team began to flounder in 1998.  What followed was a revolving door of drivers as six different drivers drove the No. 41 over the final two years and change that the team competed.  They continued in Cup until early 2000 when the team shut down due to financial issues surrounding their sponsorship at the time with Big Daddy's BBQ (namely, they didn't get paid). 

The team never won in the Cup Series, but earned eight top five finishes, 23 top 10 finishes and two poles (both with Craven in 1996).  Their best finish was third on three separate occasions.  Joe Nemechek had one at Pocono in 1994, while Craven had two in early 1996 before the aforementioned crash.  Steve Grissom (pictured above in 1997 at Rockingham) never finished third for the team, but did have two fourth-place finishes, which stand as his career-best finishes.  Frontstretch sends our condolences to the Hedrick family.  Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.