In 2007, Indy racers will be running on 100 percent ethanol. That's ethyl alcohol -- white lightning before it's denatured to make it undrinkable.
An Indianapolis-style race car runs 230 miles per hour and weighs half what a NASCAR racer weighs. An IndyCar can circle the three-quarter-mile oval at Richmond International Raceway in less than 16 seconds.
In 2007, Indy racers will be running on 100 percent ethanol. That's ethyl alcohol -- white lightning before it's denatured to make it undrinkable.
The origin of the decision to switch Indy Racing League fuel to ethanol was launched right here in Richmond at a race two years ago. League officials, representatives of the Renewable Fuels Association and race driver Paul Dana "stood by that pit wall and dreamed about the future," said Kenneth Unger, the IRL's senior vice president for business affairs.
The league has not changed fuels since the 1970s when it changed to methanol. The switch to ethanol started with the league's commitment to U.S. energy security (read: independence) and to using a fuel that would reduce racing's impact on the environment.
Ethanol is made primarily from the fermentation of corn and other grain. It burns clean and is fully biodegradable. Methanol is made from coal, natural gas and cellulose but is harder to make. Team owners have not resisted the switch to ethanol, Unger said.
Dana describes his role in the switch as the "pit bull on the pants leg that wouldn't go away." The St. Louis native was sponsored last year in a lower-level racing league by the ethanol industry and repaid it by becoming ethanol's ambassador in the league.
"If I did anything, I kept forcing the discussion," he said.
This year he was the driver for Indianapolis' Ethanol Hemelgarn racing team, which is sponsored by participants in the ethanol industry, including Alfa Laval Inc., a Richmond-area company that provides services to the industry.
But the IRL rookie broke his back practicing for this year's Indianapolis 500. He is out for the year and was replaced by Jimmy Kite, an IndyCar veteran, who will drive the car in today's IRL race at Richmond International Raceway.
This season, IRL cars will continue to run on methanol. They will switch to a 10 percent ethanol, 90 percent methanol blend next year and to 100 percent ethanol in 2007. The move coincides with a regular rules review that the IRL conducts every three years. Engine makers Honda, Toyota and General Motors are comfortable with the timetable, Dana said.
As for performance, Dana explained that ethanol burns a little hotter than methanol because it contains more oxygen. That drops engine horsepower and speeds a little. The IRL, which has had an ongoing battle to hold speeds in the 230 mph range, likes that, Dana said.
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Source: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
