Lowe's Motor Speedway heading to 'greener' days

Ladies and gentlemen, green is the new black.

Everywhere you turn, recycling and making environmentally-friendly moves is the all the rave. It's now en vogue to care about the planet whereas before it was more a time-consuming, costly, annoyance for most.

Today, American shoppers pride themselves on carrying their eco-friendly totes to Target (I have purchased one, but still can't remember to take the thing), various clothing lines are touting their recycled fibers and businesses are collecting incentives for greener work-place practices.

Soaring gas prices forcing some NASCAR fans to forego summer trips to the track are making new hybrid SUVs more attractive, namely Chevrolet and Ford versions.

But for Lauri Wilks, executive vice president of Lowe's Motor Speedway, going green is a social responsibility.

Named Charlotte businesswoman of the year, she and her staff at Lowe's Motor Speedway are leading a track-side charge to reduce waste and lessen their carbon footprint in the Carolinas.

For starters, LMS, in partnership with Anheuser-Busch, offered up more than 225 red recycling containers in and around the track during the All-Star and Coca-Cola 600 weekends. In addition, campers at Fleetwood and Country Crock campgrounds were given blue recycling bags and informative leaflets encouraging the campers to think green.

And you should know that it is estimated 150 tons of garbage will be produced during that time alone.

I asked Wilks if the beloved NASCAR fans are ready for this. Can the same fan base that swears by their SUVs and Styrofoam coolers embrace the green movement with the same zeal with which they support their favorite manufacturer or driver?

"Race fans are extremely loyal and always ready to support efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle," she said. "And we have taken measures to educate the fans through our public address system."

With greener practices becoming mainstream, it is expected NASCAR fans will fall in line.

And by law, Lowe's Motor Speedway, along with other North Carolina venues must go green. Recently, any business with a liquor license was mandated to participate in green activities.

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Levy Restaurants, food provider at LMS, is now packaging in more bio-degradable products.

More than that, Wilks and LMS have taken on a major refurbishing initiative with regards to track seating that also has a nostalgic appeal. Renovation projects that won't drain the capital improvement fund.

During construction of the new drag strip in Concord, N.C., (zMAX Dragway) across from LMS, a major portion of the backstretch seating was created from the old Rockingham Speedway.

"Like an erector set, each piece was labeled and shipped over and rebuilt," Wilks said. "It's such a neat project and great way to save on a natural resource."

In addition to that, a couple dozen rows of the frontstretch of LMS were replaced with refurbished seats from the old Charlotte Coliseum.

Granted, some environmental purists will say a mere two-week long recycling program and a restoration project in a sport that runs at least 36 races with about 50 cars getting five miles per gallon for 50 miles or so is trivial at best.

Why even try to make an impact in a sport who just recently felt it necessary to switch to unleaded fuel last season when consumers were mandated to switch decades ago.

Wilks said, and I agree wholeheartedly, you have to start somewhere.

And it's only a matter of time before green technologies make their way on NASCAR's racing scene like in other series; the American Le Mans Series and the IndyCar Series have already made the switch to cleaner, more renewable fuels for their cars.

Some fans may not welcome it with open arms or at all, but it means there is a change occurring within the sport we all love so much and it is a necessary change; not just a passing fad.

Who knows, maybe in 10 years NASCAR teams penalized for altering fuel and tampering with rear wings, will have to earn their points back by increasing their fuel efficiency. Unlikely to happen, but something along those lines would only help the progress and perception of fuel efficient vehicles -- and now they come in Ford and Chevy!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer