CONCORD, N.C. - Seated in his snazzy new office in the Atrium Health Motorsports Athletic Complex, pit coach Jacob Claborn had a message for the rest of his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.
"Hey, anytime you need a change of scenery, you're more than welcome to come down and sit," he grinned.
Claborn added that he's certainly noticed an increase in traffic in and around his new digs, and that's part of the purpose of the new facility which was formally unveiled in a ceremony on Thursday afternoon on the Hendrick Motorsports campus.
"It's not, come in and get your workout, practice and go home. The guys are hanging out a bit longer," Claborn said. "I think the addition of all of our recovery stuff has been huge for the guys and it's keeping guys in the building longer, which is great. It gives us natural interactions rather than scheduled interactions, which is always good in terms of the coach-to-player relationship.
"We're all in one building. Before we were separated. Outside of a meeting or practice, I didn't necessarily see the guys much. They were in the weightroom or up the hill and now I've got guys that walk by the office every single day and just poke their head in and say, 'Hi'. And so, being able to interact with the guys more frequently is just going to build more and more cohesiveness within our company and our department and the individual teams they're on, for sure."
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Strengthening those bonds and further driving home the Hendrick Motorsports culture were every bit as in mind as recruiting, conditioning and recovery when plans and construction were underway for the complex.
"That's what this place is built on, is being about people. The standard is to be a great teammate, how are you going to be the best teammate without knowing your teammates?" Hollifield said. "So, getting around each other, spending time with each other is the best ingredient to having a good team.
"I don't leave the place. I get there at 6:30 or 7 every morning and I'll leave at 5 (p.m.). During lunch, after hours, I'm there hanging out."
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Hollifield was a standout linebacker at Virginia Tech just a few years ago, finishing his playing career in 2022 as the fourth-leading tackler all time for the Hokies. Upper-echelon college complexes as well as professional sports facilities and even Fort Bragg served as an inspiration for the HMAC. Just a few years removed from his college days, Hollifield said the AHMAC would rival anything similar across the country.
"You're not going to find much better than what we have down here, we're definitely blessed," Hollifield said. "It's all about the little details, finding those tenths (of seconds) and that's really what builds champions. Us having these resources, there's no excuse for us not to be the best and show all the effort and hard work we put in each and every day to have that success on the race track."
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"So many of the athletes we recruit coming from college athletics and really being familiar with facilities similar to this and having access to equipment similar to what's in the building, they're going to see it and be familiar with it," Claborn added. "We want them to see it as an extension of their athletic career by coming here. So, we hope it may give us a little bit of an edge over others and we hope that this just helps amplify the human aspect of hiring the right people, being around people you want to be around and enjoying every day.
"That we really focus on, on our recruiting side is getting the right people and wanting them to feel the family atmosphere that is Hendrick Motorsports. We're hoping this building just amplifies that to the recruits as we go through the process."
Hollifield points to the teams' new lockers, built by Longhorn Lockers as one of his favorite individual features. And there are seemingly countless aspects and items to point to, from Sorinex machines to having a full-time athletic trainer and physical therapist on staff and even a Kombucha kegerator.
But across the board, a heightened focus on recovery has been pointed to as a major point of emphasis. And across one of the longest grinds of a schedule in all of professional sports, Claborn and company hope that added attention in that area will pay dividends in the long run.
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"That's one thing over the last few years we've really tried to push the consciousness of," Claborn said. "We have a really long season, so we want to push recovery. We want to push everybody being conscious of what we've got going on and it's been great. It's been so good seeing the guys in the building utilizing all the new toys and beyond that, our partnership with Atrium and the (athletic trainer and physical therapist), they've been a great addition to our staff. It feels like we have a collective staff now, from coaching to strength and conditioning to AT and PT and video staff, equipment staff - everything is cohesive and I think it's a great step into the future for us."
On Thursday, team owner Rick Hendrick, as well as media and invited guests, got their first official look at the facility, which was met with rave reviews. It seems the world was let in on a secret the pit department has kept since early December, when it began moving in and working out.
Now that the doors have officially opened, again, Claborn stressed his desire for all on campus to come get a look, adding he believes it will serve as a source of pride for all teammates and a testament to the commitment to excellence from Hendrick.
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"There's been a couple of tours here and there that have come through but everyone wants to see the new, shiny toy. It's great," Claborn concluded. "We're super proud of this building. We're super grateful for Mr. Hendrick and the dedication he's put to our department and our company as a whole. We want to show this off and we're taking a lot of pride and ownership in this building as an athletic department.
"This is our baby. We want people to enjoy it and we want everybody to come down and see it and see just another way Mr. Hendrick is providing for us and our company."