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IRL: McGehee Keeps Pounding The Pavement

10 September 1999

ST. LOUIS (Sept. 10, 1999) – The dog days of summer might mean plenty of
breathing room between races for Energizer Motorsports driver Robby
McGehee and his Pep Boys Indy Racing League team.

But the 26-year-old from St. Louis, who earned the distinction of Indy
500 Rookie of the Year this past May, has by no means been sitting still
in the weeks between races on the IRL’s 10-race schedule for 1999.

“Between our Energizer promotional schedule and running my computer
business -- and the racing schedule, of course – we’re in perpetual
motion,” said McGehee, who with two races left this year (Sept. 26 at
Las Vegas and Oct. 17 at Texas) is very much in the running for series
Rookie of the Year honors.  “When I’m in the race car, my responsibility
is simple – go fast and finish well.  But once I step out of the car,
we’re doing everything we can to keep Energizer in the spotlight, and
sell batteries!”

Since he stepped up to IRL competition with Energizer Motorsports at
Indy this past May, where he finished fifth, McGehee has been the focal
point of the program’s aggressive promotional campaign.  But a new one
has emerged, as well.  The first-year team recently unveiled the
Energizer Motorsports show car – a full-size replica of the black #55
Energizer Advanced Formula Dallara/Aurora/Firestone entry, complete with
graphics featuring the familiar pink Energizer Bunny, that McGehee
pilots at IRL events.

McGehee helped unveil the Energizer show car in his – and Energizer’s –
hometown over Labor Day Weekend at the St. Louis County Fair & Air
Show.  In addition to signing autographs for the tens of thousands of
fair patrons, McGehee himself got a rare treat by flying along with one
of the five high-performance prop planes of the famed Northern Lights
Aerobatic Team.

Next weekend (Sept. 17-18), McGehee and the show car are back at it by
taking part in the 27th annual Great Forest Park Balloon Race, another
major St. Louis area event and one that features the mammoth Energizer
Bunny “Hot Hare” balloon.
“This is what it’s all about – getting out into the community,
interacting with the fans, and promoting your No. 1 sponsor,” said
McGehee.  “I’ve been racing for quite some time, but once you rise to
the level of the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, the extracurricular
activity rises to an all-new level, as well.  You’ve got to take care of
the sponsors and the fans who make it possible for you to be here to
begin with.  I enjoy it.”

Even prior to the Energizer show car’s arrival, McGehee has been
pounding the pavement.  He is a national spokesperson for the Think
First Foundation, which involves lectures to school gatherings about
head and spinal injury prevention.  He also has been tapped by Firestone
for personal appearances.  In early August, he helped the tire company
entertain state legislators from throughout the United States at
Opryland, near Firestone headquarters in Nashville.  A few weeks later,
McGehee spoke to a dozen different groups of Firestone dealers at
Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis about how the company’s
tire technology works on the racetrack.

 “Being able to race cars for a living has been a blessing,” McGehee
said, “and getting out there to promote the sport, and to promote the
sponsors who make it happen, is the least we can do to hold up our end
of the bargain.”

Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.