Robert Gee “Pied Piper of NASCAR” / Along Highway 29 at the corner of Morehead Road stood a little diner, The Apollo - but, across the street was Charlotte Motor Speedway. During race dates, everyone from drivers, crew chiefs and parts cleaners could be found eating breakfast or lunch. It became a magnet for the hopefuls looking for work and the break needed to get into their beloved NASCAR. From there they would be sent to a house around the corner where a tough looking big guy cigar in mouth would be working on fabricating cars. This man was ROBERT GEE, the man whose son in law would become 7 times Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt and grandfather to Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Eury Jr. He would also play a big part in the lives of Darrell Waltrip and Rick Hendrick, along with many others helping them get a foot in the door, Robert Gee was the best body man of his era. Independent teams would flock to him for help where he would labor over the cars as if they were his children. The cars were so well made, there was never any question as to whether they would fit the templates, as they always did. He had no education in aerodynamics, but he could look at the race car and figure out how to reduce drag. He was a perfectionist. Its no coincidence when a youngster called Rick Hendrick needed work on his car he headed to Gee’s body shop. Mutual respect was soon forged between them, and years later the two would come together with a fledgling HMS operation. Hendrick sponsored Gee’s dirt track car and they co-owned the Busch car in which Dale Earnhardt won Hendricks first ever NASCAR race. Rick Hendrick employed Gee as his fabricator on the cup cars by day and Gee worked at his own shop at night working on their Busch cars. Rick thought so much of him, that when Gee suffered his strokes, Hendrick kept him on the payroll and was a fixture at the hospital. It was during those difficult times the two families grew closer together and a strong bond was formed. Whilst working on Ken Schader’s car in January 1994 Robert Gee suffered his first stroke,then a second and fatal stroke arrived in October that same year. Following are some of the people who got their break into NASCAR due to Robert Gee: Brett Bodine – worked as a fabricator under Gee waiting for his ride,he became race winner and now a NASCAR executive. Darell Waltrip – fielded his cars out of Gee’s modest backyard shop for three seasons, he went on to become three time champion. Jimmy Makar – lived with Gee for four months when he first got into the sport, went on to be vice president of Joe Gibbs racing. Tony Eury jr. - at sixteen hung round his granddads shop learning the trade says “you learned the lesson, no matter what you did, you did it the best”. Robert Jr and Jimmy, Gee’s sons, today hang bodies in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s JR Motorsports shop. Dale Earnhardt, the former seven times champion, was married to Gee’s daughter Brenda (1971-77). He often went to his in-law for assistance. It was Robert’s connections that got Earnhardt his first ride in cup, promising owner Johnny Ray “if he wrecks the car I will sort it out”. Earnhardt raced it to the front, but was caught up in a crash. Gee was true to his word he rebuilt the car. Dale Jr says he felt intimidated by him. “Grandpa Gee always looked tough. Cigar in mouth, at the grill cooking, you felt if you got to near the big man he would slap the s##t out of you. He was scary for a kid. He looked like he was about to bite your head off.” Junior finally learned what a kind generous and gentle man his grandfather really was when he got to know him whilst Gee recovered from prostrate cancer. After Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001, Kelly and Dale jr. turned to Hendrick for advice. They remembered the strong bond of trust that had formed and how well their granddaddy had been treated. Jimmy Gee remembers “People who knew my Daddy, knew what he had done in NASCAR. He just loved to help people and help get folks started. Joe public don’t have a clue the impact he had on racing. He now lives through his friend Rick Hendrick and grandsons Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. They do it for him, with every lap they turn on the track...
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 14:04:48 +0000
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