Environmentalists may scoff, but the motorsports industry is meeting critics more than halfway with a variety of “green” programs. The American Le Mans Series has the Michelin Green X Challenge and NASCAR is doing a number of things to clean up the air at the track (and it has nothing to do with Kurt Busch…sorry couldn’t resist a potshot).
The NASCAR switch to ethanol E85 has made a big difference. Though hardly scientific, the air inside Bristol Motor Speedway is trapped by the bowl shape and high grandstands that completely surround the infield. NASCAR veterans have always complained of the “Bristol headache” after the race because a whole race worth exhaust gas has nowhere to go. “My dad used to complain about going to Bristol,” says Doug Yates. “He didn’t like the smell and the smog and all the contaminants. That’s cleaned up a lot.” E85 and the fuel injection engine have reduced the need for Tylenol on the way back home from a Bristol event.
Not so long ago, Jack Roush used to take great pride jetting carburetors. He would hold the carb high by all four corners, like a priest holds up a challis at mass, and take it to the car when he was finished with a jetting job. So a great ceremony is another “green” casualty.
Roush/Yates engine guru Doug Yates says there is another gain. That’s because the fuel injection system controls the fuel/air mixture much more precisely. It also eliminates the off-throttle flames coming out of the exhaust from unburned fuel. More...
A weird guy showed up at Daytona over the weekend and started building a boat in Lake Lloyd. When finished it would be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. That's 450 feet by 75 by 45. He said his name was Junior, Noah Jr. He said NASCAR could load the Daytona 500 starting field in tandem pairs, much like his dad did in Genesis 6:15. They will remain aboard until the rain stops and the floodwaters recede.
Seriously, the rain finally stopped and the field took the green at 7:00PM, making this the first Daytona 500 to run in prime time.
Kenseth Win, Big Day for Valvoline NextGen and Roush Fenway Racing
There was something for everyone in this iteration of “The Great American Race.” No one could predict how bizarre it would be. More on that in a bit. The Valvoline NextGen Roush Fenway Fords were bad-fast all week. In the end, it was Cambridge Wisconsin’s Matt Kenseth who added another Harley Earle trophy to his collection of race hardware. Two other Roush Fenway drivers running NextGen finished in the top 10—Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.
The bizarreness began right from the start. There was a massive crash on Lap 2 that took out Jimmie Johnson and the “Honey Badger” Danica Patrick. The only bright spot for the media darling was grabbing the pole in the Nationwide race. Other than that, she was an innocent victim of somebody else’s dumb maneuver.
The always-strong Hendrick cars, save one, did not fare well. Jeff Gordon kaboomed an engine and Kasey Kahne got smooshed in one of the big car wrecks. Dale Jr. was the last man standing at the end of the race, pushing Kenseth just hard enough to hook him up with Greg Biffle in the other Roush rocket. More...