A new season of The Bachelor is now underway and I'm watching right along with the rest of you.
So, one of the first contestants that caught my attention was Emily, who says she is the ex-fiance of a Nascar race car driver who died in a plane crash on October, 24, 2004. It turns out the race car driver was Ricky Hendrick, who was reportedly a partial owner of Hendrick Motorsports. His father Rick Hendrick, founded Hendrick Motorsports. Ricky started racing at age 15, the same age Emily says they met and fell in love. The couple got engaged when she was 19.
Ricky was tragically killed along with seven other family members and friends during the airplane accident in Martinsville, VA on Oct. 24, 2004. Emily, who had decided not to go on the flight with Ricky, found out soon after the tragedy that she was pregnant with the couple's first child. She is now raising their daughter.
Despite her tragic love story, the hospital event planner is ready to find love again on The Bachelor. Do you think she will find love with Brad? Let us know in the comments!
Ricky Hendrick's former fiance Emily Maynard is a contestant on 'The Bachelor'
Ricky Hendrick (full name Joseph Riddick Hendrick IV) was a famous NASCAR driver killed in a plane crash in 2004 at the age of 24. His widow, of sorts, was Emily Maynard. Hendrick and Maynard were not married when he was killed, but they had been together four years and were engaged at the time.
In another tragic twist to the story, Emily found out a week later that she was pregnant. She gave birth to their daughter in June 2005, whom she named Josephine Riddick "Ricky" Hendrick. Emily is now looking for love on "The Bachelor" with Brad Womack.
Ten people were killed in the 2004 crash, including Ricky's uncle John Hendrick and his two 22-year-old twin female cousins.
The Levine Children's Hospital where Emily is an event planner was made possible through several large donations, including a $3 million donation from Rick and Linda Hendrick, Ricky's parents. The pediatric ICU is called the Ricky Hendrick Centers for Intensive Care.
