"INDY ROOKIE McGEHEE'S DAY
OF TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY"

Published in the Johnson County (Ind.) Daily Journal, May 31, 1999 ©

         Robby McGehee's childhood dream came true Sunday.

         And, at the same time, so did one of his worst nightmares. He raced in his first Indianapolis 500, ran fast and well and came away on the inside track to being named Rookie of the Year -- all dreams he had held onto like warm covers since he was a child. But they were all darkened somewhat by what he saw in front of him near the end of his first pit stop, his crew chief, Steve Fried, being struck by another race car and flipped violently to the pavement, critically injured. "The hardest thing obviously was dealing with the situation with Steve," a stolid McGehee related shortly after the race.

         "I knew he had to be injured because I kind of saw what happened," added the 25-year- old Indy rookie, who was waiting for Fried to give him the signal to leave the pits when the day's most serious accident happened, "but I didn't know to what extent. Then they got on the radio and told me his condition was improving, that he was awake and was going to watch the remainder of the race on TV.

         "That really built my spirits up, and I could focus in again on my driving."

         But for the nightmare in the pits, McGehee's drive in the 83rd edition of the 500 was entirely dream-like. The tall young man who began driving toward his dream by racing against his mother, Janet, in sports sedans when he was 17 advanced from 27th on the Indy grid to fifth at the checkered flag, the highest finish by a first-time driver Sunday.

         "It feels really great to finish that high," he said, walking back toward his garage Sunday afternoon. "And, rookie of the year -- that's been our goal, the biggest thing coming here. If we get it, it's going to be the highlight of my life so far."

         Clearly, the reality-based Indianapolis proved to be even better than the one McGehee had only visited in his dreams. "It exceeded my expectations," he added, stopping long enough to run one hand through the wide patch of frosted blond hair that runs down the middle of his head like a thoroughfare. "The biggest thing I found out about this race is how slow the speeds were.

         "I couldn't believe, after we'd run 220s all week, we come out today and run 10 miles an hour slower during the race."

         "The track in the race is so much different from the track in practice," he went on, accelerating the youthful enthusiasm in his voice back up to near-race speed. "That's the other big thing we learned today. That's what I didn't know coming in and now I'll know next year.

         "So, my goal is to come back and give myself a chance to win."

         Not that the best of this year's rookie crop didn't at least think, or even perchance dream, of winning Sunday afternoon, as many of the pre-race favorties started falling by the wayside like fading memories. "We thought we might have a shot," he revealed. "We thought toward the end, since we were on the lead lap, anything was possible.

         "We knew we had run up with the top speeds all week and the car was awesome, but we were a little loose on that last run, so we just tried to bring it home."

         Home is exactly where McGehee brought his black No. 55 Conti Racing Dallara-Aurora, and in one piece. In some ways, it was easier to find his way there than he was led to believe, especially wading through the chaos of an Indy 500 start.

         "There was a lot of turbulence going into turn one," he recalled, "and you just had to be real careful. Actually, it wasn't as bad as some of the veterans had warned me about. I don't know if they were trying to scare me or what -- I could see and I could breathe without any problems."

         Overall, McGehee's first Indy experience -- his only previous Indy-car start was at the tragedy-halted event at Charlotte, N.C., in April -- was more dream than nightmare, the way he looked at it under the threatening afternoon skies moving over the garage area after the race. "Ever since I've started racing these cars, there have been ups and downs," he said, with a shake of his blond-swatched head, "with the Charlotte race and now this. It's great, and we're really happy with the performance of the team.

         "It's just a shame Steve got hurt today. We're all praying for him."

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 Copyright 1999 by Jerry Miller ©

 Color photo courtesy of Indy Racing League

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