When Michael Andretti zips around the speedway, his father Mario, a legend in the auto-racing world, watches thoughtfully.
Off the track though, Andretti is eyed by one of his new sponsors, a Poway-based sunglass maker.
Gatorz Eyewear of Poway recently nailed down a three-year deal with the CART racecar driver, hoping Andretti’s winning image will carry the sunglass brand to racing enthusiasts of every type.
Kerry Lynch, president and CEO of Gatorz, said, “Our sunglasses are already big in extreme sports where people have to worry about their glasses falling off.”
That is, mostly in mountain bike and motocross racing, he said. He hopes Andretti will carry the product into the motor world as well.
Lynch said Gatorz’ sleek design, lightweight, flexible aluminum material is the ideal protective eyewear for extreme sports enthusiasts.
The firm sells seven different styles of glasses with lenses in such hues as red, yellow and violet.
Andretti admitted that at speeds of 200 mph around such famous tracks as the CART Molson Indy race in Toronto , which he won July 15 , other protective eye gear is needed.
Off the speedway though, Andretti is bound by exclusivity to the Gatorz’ brand, Lynch said.
Lynch bought the company with Mike Dianna, Gatorz’ COO, and Barry Fefferman, Gatorz’ CFO, in 1998 from its original founder, whom Lynch declined to name.
The trio revamped the 8-year-old firm, refocusing its design from everyday uniform plastic sunglasses to a sporty design specifically aimed at tattoo-wearing, body-pierced Gen-Xers , and, well, older people stuck on youthfulness.
Gatorz’ current marketing kit shows two muscle-shirt-wearing twenty-somethings shouldering skateboards and sporting their shades.
The next marketing kit, which is set for this fall, is likely to sport an equally no-nonsense look, but it will target an older and tougher Harley-Davidson crowd, Lynch said. The glasses will have interchangeable lenses , dark lenses for day wear and lighter lenses for the night.
