Don’t believe everything you see on television. That’s the lesson Festus Covington will take away from his recent afternoon of sheer terror at the Atlanta Zoo. Covington, 53, had taken his wife and two young sons to the zoo to meet their favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt was signing autographs in front of the gorilla exhibit as part of a promotional appearance for sponsor Amp Energy Drink when one of the gorillas became agitated.

“I think it was all the flash bulbs or the kids beating on the glass, I ain’t really sure,” Covington said of the incident. “What I do know is that gorilla used his tire swing to jump out of his cage. He was standing on the sidewalk beating his chest all pissed off. Everyone was running around and trying to get away. My kids were scared to death. Then it hit me, this happens to Jr. on teevee all the time!”

Trying to keep his composure, Covington calmed the crowd by assuring them that the angry gorilla would be no match for Junior. In television advertisements for Amp Energy Drink, the NASCAR superstar is shown withstanding the charge of an angry gorilla.

Covington slowly reached into his backpack for a can of Amp and tossed it to Earnhardt.

“I thought to myself, somebody better get here quick,” Covington recalled. “Cuz that gorilla’s gonna need some help!”

According to Covington, in the face of danger Earnhardt Jr. simply shook his head at the gorilla and calmly opened the can of Amp. “When Dale Jr. drank that thing down, I felt this sense of calm. I thought, hell, I know how this story ends! Dale Jr.’s got this covered,” Covington said.

“Then the gorilla attacked.”

Covington admits that he doesn’t remember much, but theorizes that Earnhardt didn’t have enough time to consume an adequate amount of Amp to repel the attacking gorilla. “That gorilla got a few lucky shots in on us — that’s all. I’m pretty sure Jr. just lost his footing or something like that. I ain’t saying he would have won without drinking 4 or 5 Amps but it sure would have been a better fight.”

A spokesman for Amp declined to comment on the incident but did issue a statement that urged Amp consumers to refrain from confronting gorillas or attempting to carry camels of any size across the desert.

The gorilla is in talks with DEI to drive the 8 car in the 2009 Sprint Cup season.