As some Domestic Fuel fans know I conducted the last interview that Paul Dana granted prior to his tragic death last year just prior to the opening IRL race in Homestead, FL. Paul is the man who worked so hard to bring the ethanol and racing industries together. He was the driver of the #17 Ethanol Car prior to Jeff Simmons. This year’s running of the Indy 500 with all the cars fueled with ethanol is the fulfillment of his dream.
Visiting the track yesterday was Paul’s wife Tonya, pictured here outside the Rahal-Letterman Racing hospitality suite. Although I’ve met Tonya before I never had a chance to interview her. She was gracious enough to allow me a few minutes though.
I was impressed with how strong she seems to be. It has to take courage to come out here in light of what happened to Paul. Tonya says that the support she’s received from friends in the ethanol industry and the IRL has been tremendous. She does see this year’s race as the fulfillment of Paul’s dream and she says she’s ready to help the ethanol industry in any way she can.
You can listen to my interview with Tonya Dana here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/epic/indy-07-tonya.mp3] Tonya Dana interview
One of the ways that the 
The agenda for the Ethanol Summit changed at the last minute and just 24 hours before the event, the U.S. Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Andy Karsner, announced he would attend. Andy said ethanol is a key part of the solution to combating global warming. He said ethanol isn’t the silver bullet, but rather part of the silver buck shot. For Andy, it’ll take a number of committed strategies to establish a more green America. It wasn’t all business for the Assistant Secretary though. Andy strapped on an official Ethanol flame-repellent suit and hopped into the hot seat of a replica Ethanol car.
Updating 
Dr. Walter Copan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Clean Diesel, says his company has developed a range of retrofit emissions control technologies, called Purifier. This new technology will help meet the requirements of new European LOw Emissions Zones (LEZs). One of these zones is about to take effect in London, England.
Fortunately, the longest presentation at the Ethanol Summit was one of the most interesting. Will Steger narrated a slide show of his various expeditions across frozen ice lands in Antarctica, the North Pole and the Greenland ice cap. He spoke of temperatures 30 degrees below freezing with 30 mile an hour winds. But, amidst all that freezing cold Will said he witnessed evidence that suggests the reality of global warming. Will said significant climate changes are causing large remnants of ice from the last ice age to break up and begin to melt. He said one ice shelf took him 21 days to cross and in 2002 the entire shelf disintegrated in just a matter of four weeks, and another ice shelf was completely gone a night after he crossed it. Will said these are real affects of global warming – a global warming he says the human population is contributing to and altering. For Will, the diminishing summer sea ice suggests the earth is experiencing what he calls “unnatural climate changes.” 
The “Ethanol Summit” included an impressive list of speakers and both local and national press arrived to cover it. The Ethanol Information and Promotional Council, IndyCar Series, Indianopolis Motor Speedway and Rahal Letterman Racing sponsored the event. EPIC officials said the summit was meant to commemorate what the company calls “monumental use” of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in the IndyCar® Series as well as ethanol’s first Indy 500 win.
Today’s Ethanol Summit is over and Laura McNamara is working up her coverage for you. She’ll have pictures and audio interviews posted soon.
Winning a two year lease on a Flex-Fuel Chevy Silverado would be pretty cool and apparently a lot of people thought so.