Thunder Road stock cars not go karts who may use E85. --- "Most any car on the road today can operate on an up to 25-percent ethanol blend, Curley says."
A fuelish idea Ethanol will gas Thunder Road cars April 27, 2005 By Peter Hirschfeld Times Argus Staff http://www.timesargus.com Vermont BARRE ö A pair of standard bearers in the short track racing industry hope an experiment at their Barre race track will fuel the use of cleaner-burning gas nationwide and reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil. Ken Squier and Tom Curley, co-owners of Thunder Road, will use a $4,000 federal Department of Energy grant to subsidize the use of an environmentally friendly ethanol-blend fuel in at least one racecar this season. Curley calls the initiative a grassroots attempt at bringing ethanol fuel technology into the mainstream. "We're not going to make a big impact running ethanol in cars at Thunder Road," Curley says. "But if this catches on, which we think it will, and you extrapolate it to race tracks across the country and ultimately to cars on the road, this could have huge ramifications." Ethanol is a corn-based fuel derived from starch found in corn kernels. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study found that ethanol-blended fuels reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 25 to 30 percent. Ethanol-blend fuels are available at some commercial gas pumps in New York and Connecticut. Thunder Road will use a 9-to-1 gasoline-to-ethanol blend to fuel the "Street Stock" division champion racecar driven by Joe Small of Essex Junction. Curley, who announced the initiative at a press conference in Barre Tuesday, says he hopes to have the division's entire 40-car fleet running on the ethanol blend by the end of the season. "We want to see this move up to other divisions too," Curley says. "We want to make the statement that a cleaner-burning fuel will not only help the environment, it will also provide the same exciting level of competition to our fans." The initiative is thought to be the first in the country for short track racing venues. Rob Ide, director of energy efficiency at the Vermont Department of Public Service, says Thunder Road's proven ability to command national attention make it an appropriate vehicle for driving ethanol awareness. "I know people at Thunder Road can do great promotion," says Ide, who helped secure the grant at Squier's behest. Curley was named Promoter of the Year by short-track colleagues across the country and Thunder Road is regarded by industry stalwarts as one of the most popular, best-managed short tracks in the country. "We want to see this local story become an international story," Ide says. "When we see film clips of this project in Barre on news shows across the country, that's when we'll know this is a success." Curley says the shift to ethanol makes fiscal sense as well. Racers typically use a high-octane fuel that costs about $5.50 per gallon; the 90-10 ethanol blend with 93-octane gasoline costs about as much as regular gas. Furthermore, Curley says, ethanol consumption benefits domestic corn farmers rather than Middle Eastern governments. Thunder Road will pay the approximately $500 in season-long fuel costs for Small, who says he looks forward to leading the ethanol movement. The remainder of the federal grant money will go to ethanol-related promotional literature and advertising. "This shows we're trying to work to address some of these environmental concerns," says Small, who won the Street Stock division track championship last year. "We'll start small and see what happens." Indianapolis 500 cars already drive on a 100 percent ethanol gas and reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. Most any car on the road today can operate on an up to 25-percent ethanol blend, Curley says. He hopes awareness-raising efforts such as the one under way at Thunder Road will spark a Motor City revolution. "If five years from now we can prove this works, all of a sudden it turns on another aspect of corporate America," Curley says. "When you get Detroit thinking about this seriously, that's when you have some other technology emerge (that can use 100 percent ethanol)." _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
