Are One-Car Teams in NASCAR Dead?

That was true, no doubt, from the sport's earliest days, and it lies at the heart of being able to field a successful multi-car operation today.

"Multi-car teams are great if you get the guys to work together," says Hendrick. "If they don't work together, or you don't want to have them working together, it's just double your pain. We've got the best chemistry we've ever had between our four crew chiefs right now. They're sharing, and we've done it long enough that we're giving the information for setups before the race to everybody, and the engine information, so they've got all that to play off of, and they can go talk to another guy.

"I think my job has always been handling the chemistry between people. I'm almost in the people business, trying to find guys who will work with each other. Now we've laid it out to where before we hire somebody we tell them if they don't believe in this concept then they don't need to come here, because we're not going to change the way we're doing things. You're done if they don't work together. If you've got one guy who wants to take and never give, it's not going to work, and the other guys are not going to help him. Our guys see the benefit of it."

So have other teams over the last decade, as multi-car teams have changed the dynamics and complexion of the sport. Gone are the days when a teammate was viewed as an unwanted and unnecessary distraction.

"It's a different story now," says Wells. "Teammates help each other go faster. It's as simple as that. Now if you've got the right teammate, it's a huge benefit and I think that most athletes, if not all, really want a good teammate. If they're true to themselves, they want a teammate who's just as fast, and in some places maybe faster, so they can learn. That's definitely a change from what we would have experienced even as recently as, say, seven, eight, or 10 years ago.

"I honestly think the competitive environment requires it."