Auto Racing on Ethanol Cars

The Indy Racing League (IRL) has done it, other racing organizations are in the midst of it, and now there’s pressure on NASCAR to do it, too. What is “it,” you might ask? A switch to ethanol, of course. At a time when an increasing number of car models are offering flexible-fuel operation on renewable ethanol, many have looked to racing as a logical place to champion the cleaner fuel as a way of promoting it to the public.

Using racing to showcase advanced technologies before they make their way to the highway has long been a successful strategy. “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday” was a catch phrase of the musclecar era, when automakers would field either stock – or stock appearing – cars on various race circuits in an attempt to prove superiority over other brands. It worked, because the most competitive automakers would often find a positive increase in their sales figures in the days following a successful weekend race.

The use of alternative fuels isn’t new to racing. In fact, methanol - an alcohol fuel like ethanol - has been used for certain types of racing for some time, and has fueled the IndyCar Series since the 1960s. However, in recent years methanol has fallen out of favor as a fuel alternative since it’s petroleum-derived, unlike its ethanol cousin that’s typically made from agricultural products. While smaller racing efforts have also found race cars using alternatives like compressed natural gas, there has been no large-scale shift to any alternative fuel until recent times..

The Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series partnered with the ethanol industry to bring ethanol to the track as this series’ fuel supplier, beginning with a phase-in during the 2006 season. The initial season’s target was a maximum blend of 90% methanol and 10% ethanol, the same percentage of ethanol found in the gasoline/ethanol blends commonly available at gas stations. With the 2007 IndyCar Series came the use of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol. Some 120,000 gallons of the alcohol fuel were contracted from Wyoming-based  supplier Renova Energy and used for the first time at the series’ Open Test at Daytona International Speedway at the end of January.

Keeping ethanol on the minds of the millions of fans who now witness their favorite IndyCar Series competitors running on this sustainable fuel is clearly the goal, along with getting the attention of legislators and policymakers who can help champion ethanol as a mainstream motor fuel. Moving immensely-popular NASCAR in the same direction would make even more of an impact.

Who is pushing NASCAR in the direction of ethanol? No surprise…it’s General Motors, which sponsors more than 20 Chevrolet Nextel Cup cars, a substantial presence representing about half the cars on the track at any given race. GM has already fielded the idea but has not yet submitted an official proposal, which is expected later in the year. Going to ethanol plays well with The General’s overall strategy to promote this fuel. The thought has clearly been on GM’s mind for a while, as witnessed by the E85 ethanol pace truck the automaker fielded at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It could be a bit problematic for NASCAR participant Toyota, though, since this automaker has no E85 ethanol vehicles in its lineup.

Other racing activities are also likely to be targets for ethanol. Already, GM has set multiple land speed records at Bonneville with an E85-fueled Chevy Cobalt. The goal, as always, is to reinforce that ethanol is a fuel that brings performance as well as environmental and petroleum displacement value to the pavement.

With up to four million late-model flexible-fuel vehicles capable of using E85 ethanol now operating on U.S. highways, there’s every potential to increase ethanol use by American drivers...if they develop familiarity with the fuel and a convenient fueling infrastructure is built in tandem. Promoting ethanol through NASCAR and other racing venues simply makes sense.