NASCAR TOPS 7 MILLION MILES OF RACING ON AMERICAN ETHANOL BLEND

Tricia Braid

Mar 16, 2015  |  Today's News

Odometers are not standard equipment on the race cars competing in NASCAR but if they were, collectively they would have surpassed a momentous milestone last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. NASCAR began running Sunoco Green E15 in its three top national series back in 2011 and last Saturday during the NASCAR XFINITY Series™ Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 race, NASCAR surpassed 7 million miles of racing on E15, the equivalent of almost 30 trips from the earth to the moon or 281 laps around the earth!

E15 is powering engines in one of the toughest environments known to automobiles…NASCAR. There have been no problems associated with E15. E15 is approved as a fuel for your 2001 and newer cars, as well, and is becoming available at an increasing number of pumps in Illinois and nationwide. The Illinois Corn Marketing Board has a significant grant program in place to incentivize gas stations to add pumps that can carry higher blends of ethanol fuel like E15.

“Thanks to countless miles of testing, research and collaboration with NASCAR, we were prepared to run Sunoco Green E15, a 15 percent ethanol fuel in our race cars and the transition was flawless," said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. "We didn’t listen to the negative rhetoric about this, we did our own homework and testing and the switching of fuels has gone fantastic. It has also been very welcomed throughout NASCAR. Since this change took place, we have seen increased horsepower from a higher-octane ethanol fuel blend and decreased emissions. In our own internal tests at RCR, we used ethanol blends up to E30 and found no issues with that fuel, either. If you need any further proof, look no further than the 7 million miles NASCAR is about to complete.”

“Drivers across the United States have a long and successful history with 10 percent ethanol blended fuel,” said Jon Holzfaster, a farmer from Nebraska and National Corn Growers Association Board member. “Frankly, they like the cost savings provided by ethanol and the fact it comes from family farmers. Automotive technology has changed and so have the needs of the public. Cars made since 2001 are designed to run on E15 and NASCAR has proven to be a great way to grow consumer awareness as E15 availability grows.”