The man that built The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council from the ground up is Board President Tom Branhan, CEO and general manager of Glacial Lakes Energy. When I caught up with him on the bus, he said the transition to 100 percent ethanol fuel in the Indy Racing League is a major stride for the ethanol industry, and he …
Indy 500 Reaffirms Ethanol As Trusted Fuel Source
Amidst the hustle and bustle of race weekend events, I caught up with EPIC board member Don Endres of VeraSun Energy, a producer of fuel grade ethanol. Don said the Indy Racing League’s switch to 100 percent ethanol fuel is history in the making. He said the IRL’s investment in the fuel not only demonstrates to the world that ethanol …
Weather Story in Indy
The big story here in Indianapolis this morning has been the weather. It’s lightly raining now and the trucks are running the track to try to keep as much water off it as possible. You can’t race on a wet track. We’re hoping for some clearing today and will stay here as long as we can to cover the 91st …
Jeff Simmons Reception Remarks
The keynote speaker at the EPIC reception was IndyCar driver Jeff Simmons. Jeff was in great spirits on the eve of the big race here in Indy. I’ve got the audio from his remarks to the group last night. Jeff says that the story is how far ethanol has come and where things are at with the industry. He got …
Making The “e”-tini
One of the inventions of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council is the “e”-tini, a very colorful martini. Actually there are 3 different ones and I’ll have to update this post to provide the details on them. This is our bartender at the reception last night who was very animated and enjoyed making a new drink. Prior to the reception …
Ethanol On Ice
I think it shows that you’ve “arrived” when you can have an ice sculpture at your reception. This one greeted us at the EPIC pre-race reception where members gathered to hear from a number of organizational representatives. I’m not sure how many people are here from the ethanol industry but we had a quite a crowd made up of founding …
EPIC Members Get VIP Showcase at Indy 500 Parade
The theme for this year’s 50th IPL Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis was “Spirit and Speed.” There certainly was a lot of spirit from the crowd as celebrity after celebrity filed by on classic cars and Indy-related floats. The parade showcased each of the 33 competitors for the Indy 500 race Sunday along with more than a dozen other high-profile …
The Nitty Gritty In the Garage
Enough with the replicas. This time it was the real deal for EPIC Members. The ethanol team handed out all-access passes for a peek into what makes an IndyCar run at more than 230 miles an hour. Letterman-Rahal Racing’s Steve Shunck led members on a tour through the garages for Rahal-Letterman IndyCar Drivers Jeff Simmons and Scott Sharp. From the …
Final Prep Day Before Indy
It’s the day before the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 and things are relatively quiet at the track. However, I’m sure there’s lots of activity in this garage making last minute tweaks on the car. The parade is going on downtown and Laura will have pictures and audio posted later. She followed the EPIC member group on a garage …
Endress+Hauser Says EPIC Measures Up
One of the EPIC member companies and Team Ethanol supporters is Endress+Hauser. They brought a lot of their staff out to Carb Day and I had a chance to visit with general manager Todd Lucey. He’s pictured here to the right of these EPIC staffers. Todd says that EPIC has really helped create awareness and better understanding in the public …