Odor Wins Ethanol Racing Championship

Joanna Schroeder

Osceola, Iowa-based John Oder has taken the top spot in the Kearney Raceway Pro Class Points Championship driving his 1971 Dodge Challenger. Trailing by 60 points late in the event, Oder took the last two rounds to earn his second consecutive championship. Odor won six races in the 2015 season including his final three, and this year was his first competing with Ignite Fuel, a 90 percent ethanol and 10 percent gasoline racing blend.

John_Oder_KRP_Racer2“I remember thinking ‘Wow! I can’t believe I pulled this off,’” Oder said. “I didn’t think I had a chance of winning the championship again, but the car ran on the ‘number’ all weekend. It finally sank in the following week when I had time to think about the accomplishments and work I did figuring out the new fuel, carburetor and car setup.”

Odor made the change to Ignite Fuel when he was approached by Grady Koch, local farmer and Kearney Raceway Park investor.

“I wanted to supply a consistent ethanol-blended fuel for our racers and I needed a driver willing to give it a try,” Koch said. “Bringing in Ignite high performance racing fuel was a great decision for our track. We get a high quality, high octane blend of ethanol every time.”

Although Oder burns about 30 percent more fuel the economics still work in his favor. The race fuel he used previously cost more than $7.70 per gallon. Ignite Fuel has a 114 octane rating and is about $4 per gallon – about a 50 percent savings.

“I would recommend it to my fellow racers to improve horsepower, torque and consistency,” Oder said. “Ethanol fuel doesn’t corrode like straight methanol, so I was able to use all the same fuel system components.”

Koch is in negotiations now to bring Ignite Fuel to Nebraska circle tracks including Junction Motor Speedway in McCool and I-80 Speedway in Greenwood.

biofuels, Ethanol, Racing