CARY, N.C. -

Hendrick Automotive Group has opened another dealership with a sports legend as its namesake, but this time around, the name of the game is baseball, not NASCAR.

On Tuesday, the retailer announced the opening of Reggie Jackson Airport Honda in Raleigh, N.C.

The Major League Baseball Hall of Famer partnered with Hendrick Automotive to open the store, which is located near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

“Rick (Hendrick) has been an incredibly supportive friend for nearly 30 years,” Jackson said in a news release. “We’ve worked together on community service events and long shared a deep love of classic cars, so I could not be more grateful to partner with him to help operate this new dealership.

“Raleigh is a growing area with a tremendous customer base loyal to the Honda brand. The dealership has the best of everything facility-wise, and it is centrally located to a lot of economic activity. It’s a home run!” Jackson said.

“This venture also gives me the chance to do something I have always wanted to do, which is help foster a more diverse workforce in the automotive industry,” he said. “Rick and Honda have been committed to this effort as well. The opportunity to introduce more people from different backgrounds to careers in the car business truly piqued my interest.”

Jackson has held an interest in Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Naples in Florida since 2015. He has also been an advisor with the Hendrick Leadership Academy.

Shaye Johnson, who was previously the general manager of Rick Hendrick Toyota of Fayetteville, will lead the new store as GM.

“I’ve known Reggie for a long time. He’s a dear friend with a passion for the car business and for expanding diversity and inclusion efforts in the industry,” Hendrick Automotive Group chairman and chief executive officer Rick Hendrick said in a news release. “We’ve had great success working together, and this opportunity with Honda was a perfect opportunity to build on our relationship. Reggie is a champion in everything he does, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about being part of his team. He will be a tremendous dealer.”

Lithia’s online platform growth

In other news involving dealer groups, Lithia & Driveway said Wednesday that the group’s online platform for consumers to shop, finance and sell vehicles beat its December transaction target by 32%.

There were 1,650 transactions done via Driveway last month, the group said. The target was 1,250.

Lithia said 96% of Driveway customers are new to the retailer, which translates to a contribution of $500 million in estimated annual incremental revenue.

Combining that with the e-commerce business of Lithia stores equals roughly $5 billion in annualized revenue.

“We are excited with Driveway's outperformance of the December milestone,” Lithia president and CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a news release.

“Our continued investment in innovation, such as Driveway and Driveway Finance, and building a consumer-centric omni-channel experience is key to generating greater than $1 of EPS for every billion dollars in revenue.”