Bobby Rahal ’75 and a friendship that became one of sports’ greatest partnerships

Before winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500, Bobby Rahal ’75 was a second-generation Denisonian with a fertile mind and a lead foot.

He earned the nickname “Mario,” as in legendary auto racer Mario Andretti, for zipping through the rolling hills of Central Ohio in his orange BMW 2002 tii. Rahal was a history major and a Phi Gamma Delta, and back then almost everyone living along fraternity row had a nickname.

“It was right out of Animal House, where Bluto gives the new members their fraternity names,” Rahal says. “I had friends at Denison whose real names I didn’t know — just knew them by their nicknames.”

Which brings us to “Hun.”

Before becoming a marketing wiz, Richard Strup ’74 was an economics major and a two-sport Big Red athlete. When classmates heard he attended a boarding school called The Hun School of Princeton, a nickname was born.

As a Beta Theta Pi, Strup got to know Rahal through Greek Life.

“I was constantly at the Fiji House and he was always coming over to the Beta House to mooch a beer,” Strup says.

By 1991, both Denison alums were near the tops of their respective professions. Strup — just named vice president of global marketing for Miller Brewing Company — had a million-dollar idea for a partnership. Only he couldn’t get past Rahal’s administrative assistant to pitch the plan over the phone.

That’s when Strup dropped the old Denison nicknames.

“Finally, I said to her, ‘Just tell Mario that Hun is on the phone,’” Strup says, laughing. “Honest to God, within five seconds Bob picks up and says, ‘Hey, Hun, how ya doing?’”

Denison prides itself on relationships and connections. The Strup and Rahal families embodied that spirit long before forming one of the university’s most consequential and beneficial alliances.

Strup met his wife, Cindy Dusault Strup ’76, at Denison, and one of their daughters, Emily Strup ’09, is a graduate. Rahal followed his father, Michael Rahal ’50, to The Hill, and he’s one of seven bearing the family name to attend the university.

“I have very few friends that remain from my high school years — most are from college,” Rahal says. “Going to Denison was just a wonderful time in my life. Great school, great people.” 

That connection to Denison played a part in “Mario’s” decision to pick up the phone when “Hun” rang. The ensuing conversation launched the careers of two successful alums into another strata:

• Miller Brewing Company’s affiliation with the Rahal racing team spanned 13 years (1992-2005), an incredibly long sponsorship in the world of motorsports.
• Rahal won his third CART Series season championship in his first year driving the Miller Genuine Draft car.
• The partnership helped Rahal form his own racing team in 1992, and he remains the only driver to win a CART championship as an owner.
• The deal Strup negotiated with Rahal began a string of home-run sponsorships with organizations like the dynastic Chicago Bulls and Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s. He signed NBA legends Larry Bird and Pat Riley for “responsible drinking” ads. He developed relationships with commissioners of major sports leagues, and appeared on Sporting News’ annual list of its 100 Most Powerful people multiple times.

“It was a fantastic partnership,” Strup says. “Bob and I came back to Denison a couple of times over the years to share our experiences with students.”

Without the benefit of hindsight, the 1991 agreement between Strup and Rahal carried as much risk as reward.

Strup had been hired away from PepsiCo to help close the gap in brand awareness between Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing Company. He devised a three-point plan to satisfy that objective. It included: developing well-defined brand positioning and breakthrough TV ads; launching new products like MGD, Red Dog, IceHouse, and Sharp’s beers; and creating partnerships with sports properties and personalities to leverage brand image.

Miller had been involved in motorsports, but was looking for a high-profile driver on the CART circuit. Strup hadn’t spoken to Rahal since the two men left campus, and some company executives thought the pursuit of the Indy 500 winner was a waste of time.

“One of the guys in senior management at Philip Morris, which owned Miller at the time, told me, ‘You’ll never get Rahal, he’s too good,’” Strup says. “You can either be a success or a failure with this kind of stuff, and I was out on a high wire because I was pushing stuff through the system at a time when we weren’t used to doing stuff like this.”

Rahal agreed to the Miller sponsorship — his black-and-gold MGD car became one of the most iconic in CART racing — but the conversations didn’t end there.

“Hun says, ‘Why don’t you start your own team?’” Rahal recalls. “For years, people had asked me if I had interest in owning a team, and I always thought, ‘Why would I want to do that?’ But as I got closer to what I thought would be my retirement age as a driver (his last race was in 1998) the idea became more attractive.”

Strup sweetened Miller’s sponsorship offer to Rahal, including options to lease equipment from the beer company, and in 1992 the Bobby Rahal-Carl Hogan racing team debuted. With Rahal at the wheel, they won four times that season and captured the CART title.

“A lot of people dismissed that plan saying, ‘You can’t be a driver and an owner,’” Strup says. “I’ll never forget Bob winning that first race of the year in Phoenix. It was a hell of a party that night.”

The true test of a partnership is not measured in trips to the winner’s circle, but when the headlines become less flattering. In 1993, the team attempted to develop its own chassis — the load-bearing framework of a car — and Rahal failed to qualify for the Indy 500. It was a serious setback with repercussions for Miller and Strup.

Instead of cutting ties with his fellow Denisonian, Strup doubled down, offering Rahal a three-year contract extension.

“We had dinner, we drank a little bit and I pulled out a letter and I gave him the extension,” Strup says. “I said, ‘I’m in this for the long term. You figure out what needs to be done on your end and we’ll go forward.’ It’s a decision that opened some eyes, but it worked out well for everyone.”

Among Strup’s prized mementos is a 1994 photo taken at the Indy 500 that shows him and Rahal in fire suits leaning against a pit row wall before the race. A year after failing to qualify, Rahal roared back and delivered a third-place finish.

Strup spent the early part of that season attending races in support of Rahal. He even performed menial tasks as part of the pit crew, including reeling in the air hose after tires were changed and holding an umbrella over Rahal as the car was serviced.

“Bob told me if he ran over the air hose it would be a one-lap penalty,” Strup says, “and if he ran over me, I’d be a decal.”

In the mid-90s, the Rahal-MGD partnership figuratively took flight as part of a slick ad campaign in which the speeding black-and-gold racing car transformed into a fighter jet.

“We got such a tremendous response that we ended up shipping a replica MGD jet to the infield of the Indy 500,” Strup says. “Fans loved it. We handed out T-shirts. That campaign was a great way to build brand loyalty.”

Strup was promoted to senior vice president/chief operating officer of Miller International in 1996. While he no longer worked closely with Rahal, the families remained in touch.

The Strups returned to Denison to see Rahal honored for his sports achievements.

“Bob always holds that over my head,” Strup says, laughing. “He never set foot on an athletic field at school but got an award, and I got my brains beat out on the basketball and football teams.”

Strup is retired, while Rahal continues to lead his open-wheel racing team, which now includes former late-night talk show host David Letterman and Mike Lanigan as co-owners. Rahal has won two Indy 500s as an owner.

Rahal and Strup have come a long way since their days together on Denison’s fraternity row, but they both get back to campus occasionally, with Rahal attending a 2026 Lambda Deuteron Fiji reunion.

Strup is grateful for his time at Denison. As an athlete, he learned the value of teamwork, resilience, and reliable role players. He recently led a campaign to raise funds for the new scoreboards installed in Livingston Gym.

Rahal endows the Michael G. and Barbara W. Rahal Professorship in History in honor of his parents. Michael Rahal considered his time on campus life altering, and when Bobby was looking for a school to attend, his father said, “You can go any university you want as long as it’s Denison.”

A bad knee makes it difficult for Strup to attend races nowadays, but he keeps tabs on his old partner. They still talk by phone, forever addressing each other by their nicknames.

“I’m a godfather to one of Bob’s daughters,” Strup says. “My kids, who are in their 40s, still call him ‘Uncle Bobby,’ and his kids call me ‘Uncle Hun.’”