When will they ever learn?
Boy, you hit a nerve with me this time! I would have expected you to do some homework unlike the environmentalists.
Now, I don't know a lot about NASCAR, because I'm not a beer drinker, but CART, the forerunner of the CHAMP CAR series, and until the early 90's the sanctioning body behind the Indianapolis 500, has been running Methanol since the early 80's. There were a few reasons for this, but one of the biggest was that gasoline fires were too hard to control and were killing too many people, and was basically about the most unsafe fuel available. So, in 1982, 84 or 86 (I can't remember now...) they switched to Methanol. Methanol is made from wood chips; it's wood grain alchohol. You know, the stuff you're not supposed to drink because it will make you blind?
So, as long as we have trees, we have Methanol. Now, the price is prohibitive to use in your everyday car, but the racers have deep pockets. It is a lot safer for the drivers and the crews. Although you can't see Methaol flames like you can gasoline, unlike gasolinie, a Methanol fire can be doused with ordianry water. No chemical cleanup there, and this means much better for the environment. And, although it requires wood chips, and therefore trees to produce, trees are plantable, so it's a renewable resource. Now, the people who want to stop auto racing probably also don't want you cutting down trees, but Too Bad. You can't have it both ways. I like racing, and if anything the environmentalists should be cheering CHAMP CARS as an innovator in alternative fuels! (Innovator? It's been TWENTY years! You'd think the environmentalists, after having 20 years to do some homework, would stop their obviously ignorant rant about Gas use! But, that's not how they operate...)
Since the Indy Car series was formed in the early 90's, they have used Methanol exclusively. They have NEVER used Gasoline for fuel.
Too bad more people don't know the fantasic amount of research that has gone into Methanol fuels since the 1980's! And, this year more teams on both sides will be using Ethanol, and even MORE renewable research, since you can make Ethanol from anything that ferments (ask Jack Daniels and the Everclear makers!)
So, if you would, please educate the ignorant as to how racing research may soon be coming to an auto near you. Think of it! All the engines used in the CHAMP CAR series are made by Ford (or, the majority anyway) and in the Indy Car series the engines are made by Nissan, Toyota and Honda. With the knowledge they gain from the research in the racing field, the tecnology can easily be applied to the car sitting in your yard.
And remember, we're talking engines that rev to 12,000 RPM and produce 7-800 Horsepower or more...from a Renewable Resource!
Thanks for letting me rant!