DARLINGTON, SC. (March 8, 2002) - Ricky Hendrick will be on the sidelines when his No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet takes to the track for the Darlingtonraceway.com 200 NASCAR Busch Series event at Darlington Raceway March 16. Veteran Ron Hornaday, Jr. will handle the driving chores for the 21-year-old Charlotte, NC native while he recovers from a shoulder injury suffered in a grinding crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, March 2.

"I hate that I am going to miss races," said Hendrick, who had arthroscopic surgery in Charlotte March 6 to repair ligament damage in his right shoulder. "Racing is what I love, I can't even imagine missing one race and I will be out for six weeks. That is the toughest part of this deal." Hornaday, a two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, has plenty of Busch Series experience totaling 52 division starts from 1998-2001. In 2000, the Palmdale, CA driver piloted Dale Earnhardt's No. 3 Busch Series entry to a pair of victories and a fifth-place finish in the final season standings, In all, Hornaday has sevenTop-5's and 18 Top-10 finishes in his Busch Series career. The Darlington event will be his first NBS start this season.

"I couldn't be more proud to drive for Hendrick Motorsports," said Hornaday. "I'm just filling the seat for Ricky while he recovers. I want to do my job and do it well so we can get some points and Ricky can have a good spot in the garage when he gets back. I am not taking his place. I am just filling his seat until he's healthy and can race again."

Hornaday's first test for Team GMAC will come at the famed Darlington Raceway. Last year, the 43-year-old driver took three swings at the ultra-tough 1.366-mile Darlington oval. In the fall South Carolina 200 Busch Series event, Hornaday qualified 34th and rallied to an 11th-place finish. His luck wasn't anywhere near as good in a pair of Winston Cup starts at 'The Track Too Tough To Tame' as accidents in both events produced 42nd- and 37th-place finishes, respectively.

"Darlington is called 'The Lady in Black' for a reason," said Hornaday. "It's a tough track, but it's fast and it's fun. The only advice anyone to give anyone racing there is to race the racetrack, not the other drivers. I finished eighth there in a Busch race in 2000, so I feel like I've had a fair amount of success there. Now I'm returning in the very best equipment and with a great Hendrick Motorsports team. We are hoping to go out there and win races."

The relief stint for Hendrick will also team Hornaday with former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rival and good friend, Jack Sprague, the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 NetZero Chevy NBS entry. While the two drivers staged several epic battles in the Truck Series, they will now be teammates for a number of races.

"I've always enjoyed racing against Jack and now we get to compete at teammates," said Hornaday. "That's pretty cool. Jack's a great competitor and I know we're going to have a good time racing together. I'm sure we'll still race like heck against each other, but that will be half the fun."

The Darlingtonraceway.com 200 will take the green flag Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The event will be the fourth of 34 NASCAR Busch Series races this season and will be telecast live on FX. MRN Radio will also broadcast the race live on more than 300 affiliated stations worldwide.

ABOUT GMAC  In addition to automotive financing, GMAC Financial Services provides insurance, mortgages and commercial financing. GMAC, with 29,000 employees in 40 countries, has extended more than $1 trillion in credit to finance 150 million cars and trucks. A subsidiary of General Motors Corporation since 1919, GMAC recorded 2001 earnings of $1.8 billion.