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IRL: Batteries.com joins sponsorship lineup in the Indy Racing League

26 September 1999

LAS VEGAS (Sept. 26) – Energizer Motorsports, featuring driver Robby
McGehee and his #55 Energizer Advanced Formula Indy car, are proud to
welcome a new sponsor – batteries.com – to the fold as they take to the
track for this weekend’s Pep Boys Indy Racing League main event at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway.

Batteries.com, the world’s largest Internet battery retailer, goes
on-line live when the green flag falls to start Sunday’s main event, the
Vegas.com 500, at 11:30 a.m. PDT (2:30 p.m. EDT).  McGehee and his
now-familiar black racing machine will carry the revolutionary new Web
site’s address (www.batteries.com).  In addition, it also will display
the logo of America Online, a charter Internet partner with
batteries.com as it prepares to dig into the $30 billion-a-year battery
market.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for us for all the reasons you can
imagine,” said Energizer Motorsports managing director Fred Azbell.
“Not only do we get a chance to bring a powerful new sponsor into the
family, but we are in on the ground floor of an exciting new business
opportunity that stands to take our ability to sell Energizer batteries
to new heights.

“It’s a win-win for everybody involved,” Azbell continued.  “While we
stand to benefit greatly, a high-tech company like batteries.com can
take advantage of the excitement of IRL racing to perhaps more
accurately reach its target markets.  Every household in the world has a
need for batteries to some degree or another.  But we’re betting that
people who follow racing, in particular, are more likely to use the
Internet for entertainment as well as for their shopping needs.  I can’t
wait to see how this opportunity takes off.”

Batteries.com, a one-stop battery resource, will offer 3,000 different
products on more than 60,000 pages of information covering 38,000
battery applications.

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.