CIRCUIT WITHHOLDING JUDGMENT

GM to urge ethanol use in NASCAR

Carmaker, a top sponsor in series, says fuel is better for environment

LISA ZAGAROLI / McClatchy Newspapers

Saturday, May. 05, 2007

WASHINGTON -- One of NASCAR's top sponsors plans to file a formal petition asking that it join other racing series with a switch to ethanol to power its vehicles.

The recommendation by General Motors Corp., planned for later this year, comes just as NASCAR adjusts to a recent change to unleaded gasoline, decades behind the commercial marketplace.

GM sponsors 22 Nextel Cup cars under its Chevrolet nameplate, about half the field of any given race. It has been promoting more environmentally friendly fuel for months, but now it plans to move forward with an official presentation to NASCAR ownership.

"We do have the technical know-how," said Brent Dewar, vice president of GM North America sales, service and marketing. "It's something we would have to work in conjunction with NASCAR on. NASCAR would have to encourage other manufacturers to do it as well."

NASCAR spokesman Andrew Giangola said it is always open to new ideas, but withheld judgment on GM's plan.

"Until they come to us with a proposal and some ideas, it would be premature to comment," he said.

The issue is emerging for NASCAR as others in the racing industry embrace the emissions benefits of alternative fuels without sacrificing performance.

Onetime Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, a car owner in the Indy Racing League, was at the National Press Club here on Friday to tout the "greening of racing," in particular the IRL's complete conversion to ethanol-powered fuel this year.

He noted that the American Le Mans Series was running on E10, a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, with a cleaner blend slated for next year. Formula One has promised a change in the next couple of years.

In February, cars in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series converted from leaded to unleaded gas.

Giangola said NASCAR doesn't want a larger gas tank, or fuel cell, in its vehicles. Ethanol is less fuel efficient than gasoline.

"NASCAR's current position is to have a smaller fuel cell in the car for safety reasons," he said. "Ethanol would require cars to carry much larger fuel cells or pit three times as often. There's a competition and safety element to the decision."

When the IRL finished its two-year transition to ethanol this year, it actually moved to a smaller gas tank because methanol was less fuel efficient.

"They adjusted the size of the fuel cell so they could maintain the pit-stop frequency they had with methanol," said Reece Nanfito, senior director of marketing for the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

The IRL made its engines bigger, moving to a 3.5 liter from 3.0.

"Most of the drivers have had great comments about a couple things," Nanfito said. "It has more torque, they feel it has a little more power coming out of the turns, a little more pickup. And the smell is better. The methanol is poisonous, and the ethanol is not."

Other changes that would have to be made with NASCAR vehicles include swapping out some parts with stainless steel components because ethanol is organic, and therefore more corrosive, GM's Dewar said.

Another hurdle might be that Toyota, NASCAR's newest manufacturer, doesn't have an ethanol vehicle in the marketplace yet, Dewar said. Toyota's alternative fuel vehicle success has come largely in electric hybrids.

Why Ethanol?

Brent Dewar, a GM vice president, lists some reasons for racing to embrace ethanol:

• Less dependency on foreign oil.

• Better business for America's farms (ethanol is usually made from corn).

• A cleaner environment.

• An example to the car-buying public.

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