INDIANAPOLIS — There are fewer people who have driven the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile than people who have been to space.
Every year, thousands apply. Only 12 are chosen.
“You typically need a bachelor’s degree, a valid driver’s license and an appetite for adventure,” said Gabriella Fulkerson, who currently co-pilots the Slaw Dog Wienermobile.
The lucky few are known as “Hotdoggers” — recent college graduates tasked with piloting a 27-foot-long hot dog across America, smiling through gas stations, parades, grocery store parking lots and interstate traffic jams while spreading what they call “wienie joy.”
For Fulkerson — better known on the road as Grill ‘Em Up Gabby — the journey began during her senior year at the University of Alabama.
“Spring semester, senior year, walked into a marketing class and heard about the opportunity to drive the Wienermobile,” she said.
The official Hotdogger program launched in 1988, though the Wienermobile itself dates back decades earlier. The idea originated with Carl Mayer, Oscar Mayer’s nephew, who dreamed up the first hot dog-shaped vehicle in 1936. The Wienermobile disappeared from the roads during World War II before returning in 1952, eventually evolving into the current fleet of six Wienermobiles that now travel across the country.
The drivers rotate every year, with each new group of recruits forming the next “class” of Hotdoggers — the current crew making up Class 38 — after completing a two-week crash course known as Hot Dog High, where they earn their “HDL,” or Hot Dog License. Along the way, each Hotdogger adopts a pun-filled nickname to use on the road.
“They teach us everything about the Wienermobile, like the history, including how to drive them as well,” said Isaac Salas, known behind the wheel as At the Grill Isaac.
Salas, recruited from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, now co-pilots Slaw Dog alongside Fulkerson — the southeast-region Wienermobile and reigning champion of the inaugural Wienie 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Inside, the Wienermobile feels exactly how one might imagine a giant rolling hot dog would.
Six ketchup-and-mustard-colored seats line the cabin, while a mustard-yellow “spill” winds across the bright red floor down the center aisle. Overhead, a blue-sky ceiling stretches above “because it’s never a gloomy day in the Wienermobile,” Fulkerson said. And, of course, there’s the signature “bun roof,” where Hotdoggers pop out during parades.
Everything, somehow, is hot dogified.
The job itself is equal parts road trip, brand ambassador and endurance challenge. Each Wienermobile operates with a driver and co-driver, partly because visibility is limited and there’s no rearview mirror.
“Every week we go to a different city or state, so we could drive anywhere from two hours to eight hours,” Salas said. “So gotta take turns.”
The year behind the wheel goes quickly. Hotdoggers only spend one year in the driver’s seat before handing the keys to the next class.
“We really have to relish our time that we get,” Fulkerson said.
And somewhere between the hot-dog puns, cross-country drives and endless double takes from passing cars, the mission remains surprisingly simple: make people smile.
“The main goal for the Wienermobile is just to make people’s day better,” Fulkerson said. “That’s definitely the mindset that we go in trying to spread as much wienie joy as we can throughout the country.”
Jessica Garcete is an IndyStar sports reporter. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to theYouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What does it take to drive the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile?
Reporting by Jessica Garcete, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
