Full Throttle

NASCAR has been pilloried by the Earth-is-hotting-up-we-gotta-do-something-NOW-crowd for as long as I can remember. Not that in some ways they don’t deserve it, it took the Daytona Suits a dog’s age, a very old dog, to switch to unleaded fuel.

For the most part NASCAR along with the car manufacturers that support it have been in PR Stunt mode but even those nascent efforts have been on occasion embarrassing as the image above shows.

I’m sure everyone at Toyota and NASCAR thought it to be a good idea to use a Toyota Highlander Hybrid vehicle during driver introductions at Lowe’s Speedway a few weekends ago.

A good idea until it was towed of the tarmac by a gas-guzzling Chevy Wrecker when it refused to start.

Luckily the Toyota Camry Hybrid that paced the field later in the weekend didn’t suffer the same fate.

Staying on the subject of “green,” has anyone thought of what the introduction of NASCAR’s CoT has meant to the environment? Nah, me neither, but apparently it has.

In the per-CoT days old or wrecked cars were filtered down NNS or ARCA or parted out to some short track race teams. The unique to Sprint Cup CoT put a stop to that.

Enter Jack Roush who’s already riding the Ecco-train with his Propane powered Ford Pick-up Trucks.

Jack says with no market for the CoT spent, used up cars are being recycled into “plastic, paper and sheet metal.”

In no small amount I might add, with 96 percent of every car recycled his shop alone pumps out more than 66 tons of the stuff.

“If you do not add environmental thinking to your business strategy, you run the risk of missing the upside opportunities in your market,” said Ian Prince, manager of real estate and sustainability at Roush.

As the linked article says Chevy is supporting “green racing” suggesting biofuels is the way to the future and RCR promoted the Pennzoil Clean Change Campaign on Kevin Harvick’s car in May at Phoenix.

Also as part of the green movement with each ticket purchased for the NHMS event this month a tree will be plated on the facilities 1,200-acres. If the tracks years-long record of sellouts holds over 90,000 new trees will be planted.

Notice anything missing from the above list of green initiatives?

There’s nothing from NASCAR, other than the ISC owned Infineon Raceway who’s been doing some recycling, the sanctioning body is noticeably absent other than PR stunts.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say in this new era of Government Motors NASCAR better do something and they better make it dramatic and very noticeable. Shortly.

With the current economic situation it’s not an easy task, but I think I may have a workable solution.

Much has been written of late about the status of the Truck Series. Although TV ratings continue to climb short fields are starting to become evident.

Add in the new government imposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that include light trucks I see only one way to go, switch the series to either biofuel or go whole hog and move to diesel power.

Cost would be a major problem for team owners and by extension their sponsors, but the bottomline is what’s worse, a series that promotes light trucks that by all indications will have their street versions switching to alternative fuel or Hybrid power to meet CAFE, or let the series die?

That added benefit is NASCAR can claim, “hey look at us, we’re ‘green,’” and with a bit of luck keep the greenies and Government Motors off their back for a while longer.

UPDATE: What a happy, or should I say “green” coincidence? The day after this was published NASCAR announced a new green program.

In simple terms, NASCAR will oversee the planting of 10 new trees for each green flag that drops during Sprint Cup races. Eleven tracks are involved this year — beginning with Michigan this weekend — and all will be part of the program next year, which was instituted to help offset the carbon emissions produced by race cars during events.

According to NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France, this is just the beginning as the sport becomes more eco-friendly in the coming years.

“This is a first, important step in an ambitious five-year plan to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of NASCAR, while raising awareness of conservation among fans,” France said. “Our goal is to be an environmental leader not only in sports but in all industry.”

According to the official news release, each of NASCAR’s three national series will eventually be part of the program. NASCAR and its partners will be planting about 20 acres of new trees each year.

A tree, according to the report, stores about one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime. The entire CO2 emissions from a typical race will be offset during that time.

“Tree planting is one of the simplest, most tangible and lasting things we can do in our lives,” said Kevin Sayers, state coordinator of the urban and community forestry program for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “The benefits are immediate and last for generations, improving the environment, the communities we live in and our quality of life.”