Jeff Simmons is hanging with his buddies for real now. These are the new #17 Car, Jeff Simmons shirts. I’ll be wearing mine by racetime. We’re hoping the weather clears up. It just poured rain here. The shirts of course prominently promote the ethanol brand.
Along with the new shirts, Jeff’s got a new black ethanol branded cap out too. Mine’s on my head.
All these items are being sold in the Indy Racing League shop and I’m betting they’ve got them online.
One of the ways that EPIC and the IRL are promoting ethanol and helping educate the public while doing so is with thousands of branded bags like these that are given away to fans at each race.
Each bag contains factual information about ethanol and some fun items too like posters and stickers.
This tent is in the fan zone where there’s not only a carnival atmosphere with booths and rides but educational displays with Indy cars.
While doing a walk around earlier it seemed like everyone had one of these.
Last year at Indy races these only contained a blend of ethanol. This year the tanker’s packing true heat with 100% ethanol.
It’s race day in Homestead and the real heat is the weather. Things should cool off before the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 this evening though.
I was listening to a reporter ask #17 car driver, Jeff Simmons, yesterday if he thought the fuel smelled different somehow. He kind of shrugged and said, not really that he noticed but at least it was cleaner for the air.
It made me think that when these cars peel out of the pits the smell of burning rubber is the same regardless of what fuel is powering them.
Here’s Jeff Simmons posing with Scott Sharp (right) who drives the Rahal-Letterman Patron-sponsored car. I interviewed Scott during an open media session at Club Patron which is basically a mobile hospitality venue (Tequila bar). I think it’s interesting that Rahal has sponsors that create ethanol for fuel and for human consumption! I made sure I sampled and Patron is where it’s at!
It was a little noisy in Club Patron but I think you’ll enjoy hearing from Jeff. I asked him how it felt to be running on 100% ethanol this year and how his car’s performing. He thinks the time’s right for this fuel and very glad of all the support from the ethanol industry with the IRL.
Here’s my interview with Scott Sharp, #8 Patron Car driver: 
Scott Sharp Interview (4 min MP3)
Here’s my workplace here in Homestead, FL at the Homestead/Miami Speedway. My little spot is right in front on the end of the table. It was the last place open when I got here yesterday.
Here’s an update on how things are going with the Ethanol Car. After last night’s qualifying session the car’s time was disqualified due to failing a post qualification technical inspection. This happened to both Jeff Simmons in the #17 car and Scott Sharp in car #8. Both are Rahal-Letterman Racing entries. This means that Scott will start the race this evening in the #19 position and Jeff in the #20 position. Tough break but hopefully they’ll overcome it during the race.
Just to stoke up a little excitement I thought I’d share a short YouTube video with you of the Ethanol Car heading out of the pits to take practice laps.
The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition has recently acquired a database of flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) registrations as identified by zip code. With the data and newly acquired software, NEVC is now able to prepare detailed maps of the locations of FFVs in each state. This data can then be used to assist with identifying the most practical locations forwhere to install E85 infrastructure.
“The information provided by this new database will help the NEVC assist retailers with installing E85 fueling locations in the most populated FFV regions,” stated Phil Lampert, executive director for the NEVC. “The software also allows us to zoom in on municipalities which include multi zip codes to even more accurately site new E85 stations.”
The information, comprised by R.L. Polk and Co., indicates that there are approximately 5 million FFVs on American roads with the top three states being Texas, Florida and California.
Underwriters Laboratories is getting closer to approving fuel pumps for dispensing of 85 percent ethanol.
According to a press release, UL currently expects to finalize research and publish certification requirements by the end of the fourth quarter of 2007 and, immediately thereafter, accept E85 dispensing equipment for investigation to the safety requirements and certification of compliant equipment.
UL has been working since October to establish standards for fuel pumps that dispense higher blends of ethanol such as E-85. Earlier this week, a bi-partisan group of Senators sent a letter to UL CEO Keith Williams requesting that the approval process be completed.
According to Senator John Thune (R-SD), the lack of a U-L Certification has nearly halted the installation of new E-85 pumps and is slowing down ethanol growth.
“For years now, Congress has made ethanol an important part of our nation’s energy policy. As we work to promote E85 and higher grades of ethanol like E20, fuel that contains 20 percent ethanol, it is critical that UL provide the necessary certification for fuel dispensers to deliver alternative fuels at local gas stations. I urge UL to act in a timely manner to certify these pumps and remove this unnecessary barrier to the use of higher blends of ethanol,” said Thune.
It has been a hot sunny afternoon in south Florida. Fortunately the Indy cars get to do qualifying for race start position tonight under race time conditions since the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 is a night race tomorrow.
Here’s Jeff getting ready to run his practice laps earlier today.
This afternoon I caught up to Jeff at the Rahal-Letterman hospitality area and interviewed him to get his thoughts on running a race that Paul Dana didn’t get to run last year. As you may recall it was just a year ago that Paul Dana was killed in practice prior to this race when it was run on Sunday. I had conducted the last media interview with Paul the evening before. So for some of us, Jeff included, this is an emotional race. As you’ll hear him say, he’s got to put that behind him and focus on racing.
Here’s my interview with Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol Car driver: Jeff Simmons Interview (4 min MP3)
Well here we are just as the practice laps are completed at the Miami-Homestead Speedway the day before the XM Satellite Radio Indy 300. That’ll take place tomorrow evening at 8pm eastern time and you can see it on ESPN2.
I’m getting ready to attend a Rahal-Letterman press conference in a few minutes where I’ll get a chance to interview Jeff Simmons and find out how the car’s running today. This is the kickoff of the IRL season and I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve started a photo album for the event which already has quite a few photo in it. You can find it here: XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 Photo Album
This is the first time these cars will be competing using 100% ethanol for fuel. In his practice today Jeff Simmons in the #17 Ethanol Car clocked a 209.302MPH on his 9th practice lap which puts him in position 15 for the practice best times today. Dan Wheldon in Car #10 was fastest with a speed of 213.014.
I’ll have a lot more over the next couple days so stay tuned.
The rise in popularity in biodiesel has caused some concerns that foodstuffs might be syphoned off to produce energy sources. To talk about those concerns, Soyatech… publisher of the Soya & Oilseed Bluebook… is sponsoring a summit November 11-13th in Chicago to discuss how to balance the needs for food and fuel with available oilseeds.
From the Soyatech web site:
At Soya & Oilseed Summit 2007: Nourishing Innovations in Food & Energy, industry thought leaders will discuss the dynamics that drive the industry today and into a future fraught with competing policies, technologies and needs, in a discussion and exploration of sound, rational solutions to the industry’s largest questions.
This summit builds on a similar discussion last year. Click here for more information and registration.
