Back in 1993, I had left Hendrick Motorsports for other pursuits (to eventually return), but I kept up with everything going on at my favorite place. One of the most accepting and accommodating people there was Gary DeHart, Crew Chief of the #5 Tide team at that time. Gary was from the old school, but he also embraced new technology and stayed at the cutting edge of the newest trends. He worked a lot of late hours, and I’d go by and talk to him at various times, day or night. Usually late at night. He’d always take time for me. Always. I learned a lot about racing and aviation from those late night talks with Gary.
Despite not working there any more, the teams at HMS around this time always made me feel like one of the crew. I can not thank them enough for the wonderful memories of those days.
I came across a VHS copy of this video recently. Titled The Tide Racing Team. A Mean, Clean Racing Machine, and it brought back a ton of emotions for me. Especially touching is seeing folks like Dan Ford and Randy Dorton, who have passed on. Although the video is semi-poor quality, I couldn’t find it anywhere else on the Internet where it appeared much clearer, so I uploaded this version myself.
