As you hopefully know by now, the Indy Racing League is in it’s conversion year of moving to ethanol as its fuel. This year all the vehicles are running on a 10 percent blend and next year it’ll be 100 percent.
There’s a lot of ethanol branding taking place at all the fueling facilities at all the tracks that host Indy races like this one here in Chicago.
Here’s home today and tomorrow here at the Chicagoland Speedway media center. The place is full today.
Of course we’ve got 2 races today after our practice sessions which are going on right now. First up will be the SK Hand Tool 200 and then the Chicagoland 100.
We’ve also got some special activities taking place this evening which I’ll be attending and writing about. I went out and took some photos as Jeff Simmons and the #17 Ethanol car went out for practice. I’ll post several of them now and then see what else I can find.
At yesterday’s 7-11 ethanol pump promotion I got to talk with a couple of the people who were at the head of the line that was waiting to fill up.
Joe Davis (in the red truck) says that ethanol is good for the environment and he’s glad to see it. You can listen to my interview with Joe here: 
Joe Davis Interview (1 min MP3)
Besides Joe, I spoke to Eleanor, who was in one of these first cars in line. Eleanor is happy to be supporting Illinois corn growers and is especially happy that ethanol-blended fuel is cleaner for the air. She says that’s important to her and her grand children. You can listen to my interview with Eleanor here: Interview with Eleanor (1 min MP3)
Both Joe and Eleanor were also happy to buy their gas for $2.20/gallon today too!
Local Iowa corn growers, Bob Fitzer (l) and Jim Robbins (r) were on hand for the ethanol pump promotion yesterday.
I interviewed them together. They made a point of saying how important it is to them to find a new market for their commodity and get the price up since there’s been little change in price for many, many years. They’re very happy to have a new use for corn which will help make use of the huge surpluses American corn growers have produced each year, including last year and they can grow a lot more if demand outpaces supply. This should alleviate concerns people have over turning corn into fuel.
You can listen to my interview with Bob & Jim here: Bob Fitzer/Jim Robbins Interview (4 min MP3)
Kids of all kinds love the IRL cars.
This little guy is no exception. He was at the wheel and happy to be there.
Today’s 7-11 ethanol pump promotion was a good one. I’ve got more interviews and pictures to share later. Right now I’ve got to head out to the Chicagoland Speedway and get checked in.
One of several Indy Racing League drivers at today’s ethanol pump promotion in Romeoville, IL was Tony Kanaan, Team 7-11. He had to be there since we were at a 7-11.
Tony was certainly in demand for autographs and interviews. I was able to get a couple minutes with him. He’s from Brazil and is proud of how significant a role ethanol plays in the fuel industry there and says it’s about time we got on board with it here in the United States too.
Tony believes that the environmental benefits of using ethanol are huge and when it comes to performance in your car, he just shrugs and says to look at how well the Indy cars are running this year on only a 10 percent blend.
We had a lot of young IRL fans out here today too like this little guy getting a high five from Tony.
You can listen to my interview with Tony here: Tony Kanaan Interview (2 min MP3)
Getting things moving this morning at the 7-11 pump promotion was Rahal-Letterman driver Jeff Simmons (front) and 7-11 Manager for Gasoline and Environmental Compliance, Scott Johnson.
They drove in to the pumps in an Indy Car 2-seater.
Before they got in the car I interviewed Scott about 7-11’s involvement with ethanol. He handles the Great Lakes division as well as the northeast and says that they’re thrilled to be using and promoting ethanol. He would love to do promotions like this at many more stores around the country. Scott also says that the company is looking at E85 and studying how or when to start installing E85 pumps.
You can listen to my interview with Scott here: Scott Johnson Interview (4 min MP3)
Even before the ethanol pump promtion got started here today the line was long to get in.
$2.20/gallon gasoline really helps. Although a lot of cars go through here in a normal day, this is definitely going to be a record day for this 7-11.
I’m sure we’ll have some results for you later on today or tomorrow on how many cars got through and how many gallons were pumped.
Today’s ethanol pump promotion has taken place at the 7-11 station in Romeoville, IL. Pictured here is Shahid, one of the owners.
His store partnered up with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council to provide ethanol-blended gasoline to consumers for $2.20/gallon. Before all the action got started I interviewed Shahid about the promotional event. He says ethanol is good for the environment and his customers and is happy to have the event taking place at his station today.
You can listen to my interview with Shahid here: Shahid Interview (2 min MP3)
Hello from Chicago, IL (Lisle to be exact). It’s another Indy race weekend and today has started out picture perfect as far as the weather is concerned. Here’s a couple of the EPIC staff members at an early morning strategy meeting before heading out to this morning’s ethanol pump promotion.
I’ll have some pictures and interviews for you later today. Several Indy car drivers will be on hand helping pump price-reduced gasoline, enriched with ethanol.
Until then . . .
