ILLINOIS CORN FARMERS SUPPORT AMERICAN ETHANOL PARTNERSHIP WITH NASCAR

Dec 02, 2010  |  Today's News |  ICMB |  Ethanol

The Illinois Corn Marketing Board, along with the National Corn Growers Association and its other member states, announced today their involvement in American Ethanol, a partnership including Growth Energy and NASCAR. This new partnership, unveiled at an official NASCAR event in Las Vegas today, comes after the popular racing organization said in October it would fuel all races with E15, a 15 percent corn ethanol blend, starting with the 2011 season.

Scott Stirling, a family corn farmer from Martinton, Illinois, joined the American Ethanol Watch Party in East Peoria to see the live broadcast of the NASCAR event. “It’s exciting to see the family corn farmers of this country forging new relationships with members of the NASCAR family,” Stirling said.

“The passion and dedication of the NASCAR family, from the mechanics, o the fans, to the sponsors and the drivers, is an incredible, committed force. Merging those strengths with the long-standing family farmer commitment to being proactively involved in America’s energy security, environmental awareness, and economic prosperity will benefit all of us,” Stirling continued.

Illinois Corn Farmers worked with Gateway Raceway and Kenny Wallace Racing just over a month ago promoting family farmers and ethanol at the last NASCAR race held at the Madison, IL, racetrack. At that event, farmers enjoyed the opportunity to have conversations with the NASCAR fans.

“What we learned is that like farming, NASCAR and race fans are family oriented. Working with Kenny Wallace and the NASCAR family was a great opportunity for us here in Illinois. Race fans at the track and at home watching on television were surprised to learn that 95% of all corn farms in America are family owned,” Stirling explained.

“We as Illinois farm families have many of the same concerns as everybody else…we want to be less dependent on foreign oil, we’re concerned about the environment, and we’re certainly concerned about the economic security of America,” added Stirling. “That’s why bringing family corn farmers, American Ethanol, and NASCAR together makes great sense.”