The man in charge of spearheading stock car racing's push to shed its gas-guzzling image realizes that's what many might say passes for a green initiative in NASCAR.
"We're not attempting to take any high ground," says Mike Lynch, hired as NASCAR's first director of green innovation last fall. "Go out and ask 10 people, and they'll say, 'OK, you're green, now what about the cars? You're burning fossil fuels.' This is a pragmatic approach to green, and what we're doing now is just the beginning."
The concept might seem incongruous in a sport inherently tied to an internal combustion engine that many find synonymous with global warming, but NASCAR, despite cars with an eye-popping 5 mpg, is trying to embrace its eco-conscious side as the federal government has begun prodding the racing industry to become leaders in efficiency.
Racetracks are building solar farms to power their air-conditioned suites and planting trees to offset their carbon emissions. Teams such as Roush Fenway Racing are outfitting their race shops to meet stringent standards for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification and being careful not to leave their 18-wheel haulers idling. Sponsors are ramping up recycling programs and marketing hybrids and high-efficiency products through racing.
NASCAR has consulted with former vice president Al Gore and held summits with sponsors to organize efforts to reduce its carbon footprint in campgrounds and grandstands at tracks. Using a formula for competition- and fan-produced pollution, Carbonfund.org calculated the carbon footprint of the 2008 Daytona 500 as 14,163 tons. In 2007, sponsor Carfax made an environmental donation to offset more than 4,200 tons of emissions for a Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway
On the competition side, NASCAR is exploring the replacement of its carburetors with more efficient fuel injection (perhaps as early as 2011) and the use of alternative fuels in at least one of its national series.
A potentially lucrative byproduct of going green is more green in the coffers of NASCAR teams whose multimillion-dollar budgets, largely dependent on the largesse of corporate America, have been devastated by the recession. An economic recovery might be predicated partly on companies seeking a marketing platform to publicize more eco-friendly products. Datamonitor research projects more than 1,500 sustainable product launches in 2009, triple the number in 2008.
"There are a lot of major companies' marketing dollars that have gone into the green movement," says H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, who runs the motor sports consulting firm The Wheeler Co. "We're not there, and that needs to be addressed."
Other circuits go extra mile
Some other racing series, though, have gotten a head start. The IRL uses ethanol to power its cars, and the American Le Mans Series employs alternative fuels. The ALMS also holds a Green Challenge at each event, rewarding the team that goes the fastest the farthest while minimizing its use of energy, petroleum and greenhouse gas emissions.
The Green Challenge was developed through a joint effort by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to create protocols for making racing greener by promoting advanced propulsion and fuel technologies. The Department of Energy has met with NASCAR officials, and an official says the government wants racing to help develop technology that's less polluting.
"We can use the harsh environment that's present in motor sports to test out those components and prove that they are valid," says Lee Slezak, manager of vehicle systems, simulation and evaluations at the Department of Energy.
A greener Sprint Cup Series also seems likely to be embraced by its four manufacturers with federal standards for fuel efficiency expected to rise by 10 mpg by 2016. General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Dodge all are producing hybrid vehicles.
"Every company in the world is looking at hybrids, diesels and plug-in vehicles," says Lee White, president of Toyota Racing Development. "We'd be very interested in (NASCAR) formulating a green look. It makes the sport more relevant to where the business of selling automobiles is being driven."
Other sponsors already have leveraged NASCAR involvement to highlight their sustainability. Coca-Cola has brought an interactive trailer to races this year to highlight its recycling businesses and has placed more than 2,600 recycling bins at a dozen tracks that have collected more than 65,000 pounds of recyclable material.
Safety-Kleen, a $1.1 billion company that labels itself as a "green enabler" handling oil recycling and environmentally friendly waste cleanup, collects more than 125,000 gallons of used oil and 5,000 oil filters annually from NASCAR races. CEO Fred Florjancic says the company's 20-year involvement with NASCAR has helped build business with other sponsors and increase its public profile (a new promotion enables fans to buy collectible barrels of race oil used by star drivers).
"When my marketing guys said let's see if we can work with NASCAR on the eco-consciousness side, I said, 'That's like sleeping with the devil,' " Florjancic says. "My initial reaction was incorrect. NASCAR could be a shining example of a sport that's not known for recycling and environmental consciousness by saying, 'If they can, we can certainly do it.' "
Need for speed limits efforts
ExxonMobil 1 has promoted fuel conservation as a Sprint Cup sponsor and showcased Penske Racing's Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish Jr.. and David Stremme driving SmartCars in a July event in Chicago. But few think racing 70-horsepower vehicles is a green option, because, as White says, "Doubling fuel mileage means half the horsepower, and putting fans in the stands requires a show."
Says Hornish: "No one is going to come watch us run battery-powered cars. I don't see anyone making enough electric power to go 200 mph."
NASCAR President Mike Helton, though, says competition is part of the green initiatives. In August, NASCAR met with engine builders on cost-effective ways to implement fuel injection.
White estimates fuel injection probably wouldn't bring huge gains in efficiency (perhaps by at least 1 mpg) but says its technology would help hook "a younger audience that uses a computer every day and hasn't heard of a carburetor."
Slezak says the Department of Energy strongly encourages series to consider moving away from petroleum-based fuels toward a bio-based renewable fuel supply.
GM has experience with racing alternative fuels in the ALMS. Last year its Corvette team switched to E85, a cellulosic ethanol made from waste wood. Team manager Doug Fehan says the conversion took about six months and fuel cells were the main obstacle. "The transition is not difficult," he says.
Helton says NASCAR is considering using multiple alternative fuels in its series, which would include the Rolex Grand-Am sports cars in addition to the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World stock cars and trucks.
With attendance and TV ratings in decline this year, White suggests NASCAR consider less intrusive ways — such as shorter distances — to make races greener without rule-tinkering. "If you're going to change something to be green, change it to affect what might be our biggest challenge, which is declining audience," White says.
With its Green Cleaner Air project, which will plant 10 trees for every caution flag at 11 races this season and all tracks in 2010, NASCAR says it will offset a race's impact by planting 20 green acres.
Recycling at tracks cuts waste
Between Goodyear recycling all tires and Safety-Kleen recycling its oil, NASCAR leaves a minimal carbon footprint in the garage, and the vast campgrounds that surround many tracks are where NASCAR has focused many of its green initiatives.
"Do our cars need to be more fuel efficient? Absolutely," says Red Bull Racing driver Brian Vickers, who buys renewable energy at home. "But I think as a whole there's a lot bigger low-hanging fruit we can go after as a sport. There are a lot of fans that come to these races, and there's a lot we don't recycle that we could."
Many tracks are publicizing renewed efforts toward sustainability. Pocono Raceway is building a three-megawatt solar farm to power the track and some surrounding residences. Infineon Raceway has recycled more than 73 tons in the past five years, and Michigan reduced its landfill waste last year by recycling more than 153.5 tons of material (including cardboard, concrete, plastic and steel).
Michigan President Roger Curtis bristled when he saw reports labeling his track's efforts as "greenwashing," a term applied to companies with disingenuous strategies for being environmentally friendly.
Curtis, whose track is building a solar-powered media center and suites and has plans for wind turbines, says, "Way too often people look at NASCAR fans and think they're not interested in anything green. NASCAR fans love the outdoors.
"NASCAR is evolving, but why wait until when the competition can be green? We shouldn't be planting trees to neutralize carbon until that day comes? We're not going to do nothing."
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