NASCAR Green: Just the beginning of sport's environmental journey

Austin Dillon, RCR remain supporters of American Ethanol, Green movement

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RICHMOND, Va. -- The NASCAR Green initiative concluded a weeklong celebration around Earth Day, culminating with Sunday's rain-delayed race at Richmond International Raceway. But to NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Brent Dewar, the week was merely a portion of a continuing emphasis on keeping stock-car racing more environmentally friendly.

While the NASCAR Green movement is what Dewar calls a 365-day-a-year initiative, it's also a 36-race-a-season project for the teams that make the sport go around. When American Ethanol signed on as a NASCAR partner in 2011 with Sunoco, questions about how it would affect speed and reliability cropped up. Four years and 7 million miles without a hiccup on Sunoco Green E15 later, those worries are behind in the rearview mirror.
 
"Their immediate natural concern in the beginning when we started this was, how's it going to perform," Dewar said. "That's their concern because they're race car drivers and they want the best performance. What's great about the blend is that the ethanol provides greater octane level so it provides the performance. So once we went through the first run and they liked the performance, the next question was 'what's the durability like? Is it going to have an impact on the heads, the engine and these things?' So over time -- 7 million miles -- we've had no issues and so the confidence level is high. So it's achieved over all these initial concerns.
 
"When you go racing, any change you make -- whether it's a tire, a chassis, an aero package or a fuel -- there's a natural concern, but we've passed that. They're totally behind it and supportive."
 
One of the biggest showings of support has come from Richard Childress Racing, which displayed American Ethanol colors on the No. 3 Chevrolet driven by Austin Dillon this weekend at Richmond. American Ethanol has stepped up its backing of RCR's teams in recent years and was the primary sponsor when Dillon captured a historic victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' inaugural dirt-track race at Eldora Speedway in 2013.
 
"It's just great to see how much we've grown from the beginning of our partnership from the last three years with RCR and then being with NASCAR," said Dillon, an official spokesman for the marketing campaign. "I'm a huge sports fan, and I think NASCAR is the greatest platform for American Ethanol and corn growers to be a part of. It really shows the green initiative that we've taken here in NASCAR. I think we're a leader among other sports as far as going green, and I think we have the best thing to show what ethanol can do, and that's a big motor that runs well on any given weekend."
 
The American Ethanol partnership is just a part of NASCAR Green, which began in 2008. The cumulative environmental measures also include solar farms at several tracks, charging stations for electric cars at NASCAR facilities and offices, tree-planting and a sharp focus on recycling.
 
Advancements in technology have recently shaped how teams gauge performance and how NASCAR officiates the sport. As similar progress trickles into the realm of environmental sustainability, Dewar says the sanctioning body plans to adapt and move forward.
 
"It was important for our values that we're doing everything we can in our communities and giving back," Dewar said. "When you look at an event like (Sunday's race), the number of fans that come out to the race track and the footprint that we have in the community economically is great, but there's also the environmental footprint. … So it's started us down a path and we had an initial vision of the fuel and the recycling, and now it's making us think more and more of all the additional touchpoints. We've had partners come into the sport, bringing their ideas to say, 'what about this? Should we try this next level?'
 
"I think it's a journey. We're proud of where we're going, but we're also looking forward."

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