IRL: Robby McGehee, Energizer move to Treadway Racing

INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 1999 -- Treadway Racing has reached an agreement with Energizer Motorsports and rising star Robby McGehee to drive for the elite Indy Racing League team for the 2000 season. 1999 Indianapolis 500 Bank One Rookie of the Year McGehee has run with Treadway under a testing contract since late November, when negotiations for the 2000 season started. McGehee will drive the #5 Energizer Advanced Formula entry with the Treadway Racing 2000 G-Force/Aurora/Firestone package under the direction of crew chief Skip Faul and engineer Jeff Britton. They will participate at the Delphi Indy 200 Indy Racing League Open Test Dec. 10-11 at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla. "I'm really excited about the coming season," McGehee said. "We had an opportunity to test at Phoenix during the last couple of weeks, and it went absolutely great." McGehee, 26, from St. Louis, finished 16th in the Indy Racing League point standings in 1999 despite entering just eight of 10 races. He finished second in the Sprint PCS Rookie of the Year standings, nine points behind top rookie Scott Harrington. McGehee's best finish was fifth in his Indianapolis 500 debut. He also posted three consecutive top-10 finishes later in the season. "We are pleased to add Robby to our racing stable and feel that he will be a valuable addition to our team," said Treadway Racing Vice President Scott Cronk. "He has assisted with our testing program, and the team was truly impressed with his capabilities. We look forward to having Energizer Motorsports on board and believe that the driver/team/sponsor combination will guarantee results and provide a banner racing season for all involved." Energizer Motorsports is also pleased to be affiliated with the Treadway Racing team. "For the 2000 season to be successful for Energizer, we wanted to align the driving talent of Robby McGehee with a result-oriented and operational group that offered a strong engineering background and a savvy race-day organization," said Energizer Motorsports Managing Director Fred Azbell. "For this success to happen, you've got to have good people, and that is Treadway's main attraction. That is the major ingredient that brought us together, and it is this intangible that will allow Robby McGehee and Energizer to succeed." McGehee, president of a computer consulting firm, began his motorsports career in 1991 with the support of his racing-oriented parents, Janet and Smith McGehee. A motorcycle enthusiast and avid golfer, Robby McGehee graduated to Indy Racing from an illustrious U.S. F2000 career of 38 career starts, including two victories and five second-place finishes. Treadway Racing celebrated the 1999 season with six top-10 finishes, five top-five finishes, three top-three finishes, and a pole position and victory with driver Sam Schmidt. He led 208 laps during the season, leading in every race from the Indianapolis 500 until the season finale at Texas Motor Speedway. Since the Indy Racing League's inception in 1996, owner Fred Treadway is the only team boss to win at least once in each season.