The Indy Racing League made a White House call Tuesday to meet with President Bush and talk about racing and ethanol.

Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. presented the president with an autographed racing helmet and IRL CEO Tony George “shared a brief exchange” with Bush about ethanol, according to an IRL news release. The IndyCar Series is using a 10 percent ethanol blend this season and will convert to 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol for all races in 2007.

“You’re leading edge, leading edge,” said Bush, who has touted exploration and support of alternative fuel sources in his State of the Union address for the past two years.

Tom Slunecka, executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, was pleased with the president’s recognition of the IRL’s ethanol use. “We appreciate the sentiments of the Bush administration, which has been a long-time supporter of ethanol, and together with its efforts to bring more ethanol to the consumer, we believe ethanol can take our country a long, long way.”