Saving fuel top of mind on the track, on the highway

Times are tough right now. The economy looks to be heading to a recession which causes all Americans to really watch their spending. Add to that the increasing gas prices across the country and drivers are very cognizant of how much money they are spending to fuel their automobile.

The best way to save money on fuel is to drive more responsibly. Kasey Kahne's crew chief, Kenny Francis, and Kahne's Allstate agent, Jason Efland, sat down and discussed the differences in saving fuel in a racecar compared to the cars Americans drive everyday and they provide insight on ways drivers can save fuel in these tough economic times.

Q: Are there any specific car setup and driving strategies teams use to conserve fuel at the end of a race to avoid a pit stop?

Kenny Francis says there is a long mathematical formula to figure out fuel mileage each race.

Francis: The main way that a driver can conserve fuel during a race is to be smooth with the throttle when accelerating off each of the corners. Do not aggressively pump the throttle pedal. Also, lifting off the throttle early at the end of the straight will conserve a fair amount of fuel, but the lap times may be slower as a result.

Q: How does the engineering and setup that you and your pit crew manipulate on the No. 9 Dodge have an effect on the amount of fuel used during a race?

Francis: Normally, a car that is loose will get better fuel mileage than a tight car because the driver has to be a little smoother with the throttle to keep from losing control. With a tight car, the car is harder to turn, so the driver will work the throttle more to give it the power to help turn the car which will hurt mileage.

Q: What are some examples of safe driving techniques that motorists can use to save gas?

Efland: • Slow down. Aggressive driving wastes gas. Every five miles per hour that a person drives over 60 miles per hour is like paying an additional $0.26 per gallon for gas.
• Keep your car maintained and running smoothly with regular tune-ups and upkeep. Checking and replacing air filters can improve your car's gas mileage by as much as 10 percent, and will help protect your engine. Keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by around 3.3 percent.
• Plan your routes. By planning your route in advance you can find the shortest distance making your commute quicker and cheaper.
• Keep to the right. Often, the right-most lanes keep moving more than the left-most in areas prone to traffic-jams. This is usually due to cars exiting the highway on the right.

Q: How many gallons of fuel does the No. 9 Dodge go through during a typical 400-mile race?

Francis: A typical Sprint Cup stock car has about 800 horsepower, weighs more than 3,000 pounds and goes from 0-60 in around three seconds, so you can imagine the fuel efficiency isn't going to be as good as the cars you and I drive on the road. Typically, we can expect to get about four and half miles per gallon on a mile-and-a-half track, so we will use about 90 total gallons of fuel during the course of a 400-mile race. (Continued)