Rick Hendrick established the team before the 1984 season as All-Star Racing, partnering with crew chief and car builder Harry Hyde. The team competed initially with a single car and claimed its first victory in 1984 at Martinsville, with Geoff Bodine in the No. 5. The organization was renamed Hendrick Motorsports in 1985, and the team expanded steadily — to two full-time cars in 1986, three in 1987, and eventually four in 2002.
From early in its existence, Hendrick Motorsports was credited as a pioneer in operating multi-car operations in NASCAR, drawing on management principles from Rick Hendrick's Hendrick Automotive Group dealer network. The team also invested significantly in engine development and innovative pit crew training. Through the mid-1980s and into the 1990s, the team fielded cars for drivers including Tim Richmond, Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, and Terry Labonte.
The team's championship success accelerated in the 1990s and 2000s. Jeff Gordon joined in 1993 and won four Cup Series championships (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001) driving the No. 24, becoming the face of the organization's dominance. Terry Labonte won the 1996 championship for the team. Most remarkably, Jimmie Johnson drove the No. 48 to an unprecedented seven Cup Series championships, with five consecutive titles from 2006 through 2010, then adding two more in 2013 and 2016.
The sustained success established Hendrick Motorsports as the sport's benchmark operation. In 2021, at the Coca-Cola 600, the team won its 269th Cup race with Kyle Larson, eclipsing the all-time record of 268 wins previously held by Petty Enterprises since 1960.
As of the mid-2020s, Hendrick Motorsports fields four full-time Cup Series entries: the No. 5 for Kyle Larson, No. 9 for Chase Elliott, No. 24 for William Byron, and No. 48 for Alex Bowman, all driving Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team maintains an in-house engine operation and supplies engines to technical partner organizations including Haas Factory Team, Hyak Motorsports, and Spire Motorsports.
The team's campus is located on Papa Joe Hendrick Boulevard in Concord, named after Rick Hendrick's father Joseph Hendrick, who was listed as owner of the team's No. 25 entry. The organization has annually presented the Papa Joe Hendrick Award of Excellence, an employee-voted honor, since 1995.
In 2023, Hendrick Motorsports partnered with NASCAR, Chevrolet, and Goodyear to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the experimental Garage 56 category, marking the 75th anniversary of NASCAR. The entry carried the No. 24 and was driven by Jimmie Johnson, 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, and 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button. The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, largely unchanged from its Cup configuration but modified with functioning headlights, a larger fuel tank, carbon ceramic brakes, and new Goodyear tires, finished 39th of 62 starters.
In 2024, Hendrick Motorsports partnered with Arrow McLaren to field Kyle Larson in the Indianapolis 500 as part of an attempt at the "Double" — running both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
The organization operated Busch Series teams from 1984 through 1990 and again from 2000 to 2007. After 2007, Hendrick's Xfinity operation was folded into JR Motorsports, co-owned with Dale Earnhardt Jr., with Rick Hendrick as an equity partner. In 2026, the No. 17 car became a full-time Xfinity entry under Hendrick Motorsports, with development driver Corey Day as the full-time driver; Day won at Talladega in only his early starts with the program.
In the truck series, Hendrick fielded entries through the 1990s, winning three truck series owners and drivers championships through driver Jack Sprague driving the No. 24. A 2013 part-time program for Chase Elliott saw Elliott become the youngest pole winner and race winner in Truck Series history at the time.
On October 24, 2004, a Beechcraft King Air 200 carrying ten people associated with Hendrick Motorsports crashed in heavy fog into Bull Mountain in Stuart, Virginia, while en route to Martinsville Speedway. All ten occupants died, including John Hendrick (Rick's brother and president of Hendrick Motorsports), Ricky Hendrick (Rick's son and a development driver), chief engine builder Randy Dorton, general manager Jeff Turner, two of John Hendrick's daughters, and four others. NASCAR officials withheld news of the crash from drivers during the ongoing Subway 500 race, which was won by Jimmie Johnson. For the remainder of the 2004 season, all Hendrick Motorsports cars carried photos of the victims with the phrase "Always in our hearts."