Think NASCAR and what's the first thing that jumps to your mind: fuel savings, right? This logical connection is the centerpiece of a new partnership between the racing league and the Alliance to Save Energy. The Alliance is the force behind the Drive $marter Challenge that launched a few months ago. The new partnership will use NASCAR's substantial media presence to promote the fuel saving measures - mostly the general car maintenance tips we're all so familar with - that make up the bulk of the challenge's message. The tips will be shared in various outlets, including a series of seven podcasts by NASCAR driver Sam Hornish, Jr. and an online calculator that shows the dollar savings that an average driver could realize by adopting the tips. For some reason, you can also get "free downloadable ring tones in English and Spanish" through the program. How that saves fuel or money is not clear to me. Read more after the jump.

[Source: Alliance to Save Energy]

Well, the only Toyota Camrys on which you'll see Barack Obama's name are those driven by civilians, like the one pictured above. The Obama campaign had been offered a sponsorship opportunity on the #49 BAM Racing Sprint Cup car, driven by Ken Schrader, at the August 3rd race at Pocono. It's not at all uncommon for Presidential candidates to try and woo NASCAR voters, but perhaps it's best that the Democratic candidate has decided to turn down this offer. After all, it seems that sponsorship of a NASCAR ride might have been awkward, as stock car racing could be seen as being antithetical to any green automotive policies that Obama might support. Obamaniacs interested in seeing their candidate's name on a vehicle can go get themselves bumper stickers, since it won't be hurtling down a speedway anytime soon.

[Source: AP via Yahoo! News | Photo: lizardking]

Photo by SoldiersMediaCenter. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Hypermiling techniques are nothing new for people who want to save fuel. Often, these techniques involve avoiding sudden acceleration and slamming on the brakes. So, what do you do if you want to conserve fuel while speeding up and slowing down as quickly as possible? Why not turn to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for some advice.

Dale, Jr. squeezed out a recent win at the Michigan International Speedway by, basically, race hypermiling. He drove his last 110 miles (55 times around the two-mile track) without refueling. At his last pit stop, his crew estimated he'd need to refuel with about six laps to go, but Earnhardt turned the engine off and coasted when the caution flag was out to stretch his distance. He was actually coasting when he crossed the finish line, and ran out of fuel almost immedieately after the win.

According to Earnhardt, hypermiling techniques are not his trick alone on the track: "Everybody's doing it," he told the AP/ESPN.

[Source: ESPN via EcoModder, h/t to Darin]

The "NASCAR dads" (one of the silly names the U.S. media has given to a supposed voting block) aren't known for their environmentalism, but that may change. Not too long ago, we wrote about the possibility that NASCAR will shift to ethanol and how Toyota was showing the Prius to the NASCAR crowd. The green message is now coming from the legendary NASCAR driver Robert Yates.

At the MIA's Energy Efficient Motorsport Seminar in Orlando earlier this month, Yates said that "it is time to get rid of the carburettor," which, as the MIA's press release put is, means "it is time American motorsport became more energy efficient."

And why not? There are plenty of ways to go fast without burning gasoline. Diesel trucks modified by Gale Banks, for example, break speed records, and Banks joined Yates in asking NASCAR to think green. You can read more in the MIA release after the break, but getting NASCAR dads to get turned on to the green car message is not going to be an easy task. Having Yates and Banks do the talking is one way to get it heard.

[Source: The MIA]

Fred Thompson may not think (wait! he thinks?) there are any hybrids in NASCAR, but America's most popular series does want to at least appear green. That's likely going to be a tall order for NASCAR. After all, Formula 1 is looking to add hybrid drivetrains in the next couple of years and diesels are tearing up the tracks from touring cars to Le Mans, NASCAR remains the last major bastion of the carburetor and live axle. So far, the gang from Daytona hasn't actually committed to any changes although NASCAR is talking to fuel supplier Sunoco and General Motors. The most likely thing we'll see from NASCAR is a jump from gasoline to ethanol, although at the glacial pace that NASCAR moves (they only switched from leaded to unleaded gas in the last couple of years) it could be 2020 by the time that happens.

[Source: Reuters]

Actor and presidential hopeful Fred Thompson made a joke about Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney that included a reference to hybrids and NASCAR. At first, Fred made a joke equating Democrats to NASCAR (because they only turn left) and commented America was not ready to "turn over the keys" to the "most left-wing part of the left-wing party." Fred then had a suggestion for the good people of Northeastern Iowa;

Now, when Rudy and Mitt come down here from New York and Massachusetts, I want you to be nice to them. And the first thing I want you to do is explain to them what NASCAR is. ... It's not a hybrid automobile.

Iowa is "down here" meaning the south? Iowa is above the Mason–Dixon Line, in the Midwest and at the same latitude as New York. Anyway, while a lot of auto racing has gone green and many of the fastest cars in the world are electric, the idea that NASCAR will go hybrid is a joke.

Related:

• NASCAR engine builder responds to questions about unleaded gas, ethanol
• Toyota takes the Prius to the NASCAR demographic
• First-ever all-ethanol Indy 500 has a winner...
• World Touring Car Championship to run ethanol exclusively from 2009

[Source: ABC News]

Just as the Indy Racing League has already done, the World Touring Car Championship has decided to make the switch to biofuels starting in 2009. As a matter of fact, for the 2008 year, teams will be allowed to use ethanol and diesel fuels in addition to standard unleaded gasoline. This article quotes Jacques Behar, chairman and CEO of championship promoter KSO as saying, "Alternative fuels will play a major role in motorsport's future and it is our goal to be at the forefront of this technology. With the close relationship between touring cars and their road-going equivalents we believe that the WTCC is the logical platform to raise public awareness of bio fuels."

Is it only a matter of time before NASCAR (which only recently switched to unleaded) joins in? What about F1? All of this begs the question: Is motorsport the "perfect" way to showcase green cars or is it a waste of fuel?

Related:

• Honda tests 100 percent ethanol IRL engine at Daytona
• Andretti Green testing with bigger Honda engine, ethanol
• Honda's IRL engines will get bigger with switch to ethanol
• Honda Insight rally team ready to race again
• No more engine whine! Could Formula 1 go diesel?
• Honda F1 confirms plan to promote environmental awareness with 2007 livery
• Alfa to return to WTCC under diesel power

[Source: Autosport via Jalopnik]

A recent issue of Sports Illustrated examined how global warming is affecting sports and athletes. The TV show Living on Earth this week interviewed the story's co-author, David Epstein, and features a transcript on its website.

Some of the more obvious concerns involve heat exhaustion or Nordic skiers not having any snow. But Epstein also looked at auto racing and how the sport is changing.

"There's not a cohesive movement right now. Well in some sports there are. Let's say in some of the driving sports, which maybe can make a big difference. In the clean air act of 1970 which said, you know, new consumer cars would have to run on unleaded fuel, race cars were actually exempt so they don't have to comply with that. But NASCAR is now going to comply with it anyway and they're mixing in ethanol into their fuels. And Indy Car is going to 100 percent ethanol, and F-1 is introducing hybrids and ethanol, things like that. And obviously their emissions are a drop in the bucket but how far is it from a NASCAR driver to a NASCAR fan in terms of being conscious about ethanol," said Epstein.

He also pointed to athletes that are making environmentalism a personal issue, the way other athletes are philanthropic in their off-field activities. He noted that Steve Gleason of the New Orleans Saints drives a biodiesel truck and started a foundation called One Sweet World that's devoted to sustainability.

[Source: Steve Curwood/Living on Earth]

NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace is joining Julia Roberts as advisory board member and company spokesperson for Earth Biofuels, Inc., a biodiesel producer. The company's advisory board is not the only star-studded affair. The board of directors for Earth Biofuels, Inc., also received the star treatment, with country music star Willie Nelson and actor Morgan Freeman as active members. Rusty Wallace, while retired from race car driving, is active as a team owner competing in the NASCAR Busch Series. He is also the lead auto racing analyst for ESPN and ABC Sports. His first sound bite tied his understanding of our need for cleaner and more efficient burning fuels to his life spent in racing. While I can see the need for the most efficient burning fuel in racing, I have to wonder if much effort is spent on reducing emissions.

[Source: Yahoo News]