THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2008
SPORTS
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》 ENVIRONMENT
NASCAR revs up green campaign Driver leads charge to make pro racing more eco-friendly
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASCAR driver Brian Vickers, who competed in Wednesday's Daytona 500 wants to make professional driving more environmentally-friendly by increasing recycling at events.
BY CHRIS JENKINS AP SPORTS WRITER
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR garage area is filled with snorting 850-horsepower engines that get five miles per gallon on a good day and gruff crew guys who sip coffee out of one plastic foam cup and spit tobacco juice into another.
It's not the most likely environment for an environmentalist
But that doesn't stop NASCAR driver Brian Vickers from talking up the potential of hydrogen-powered passenger cars or calling out political figures for spending so much time on sports when they should be tackling big issues like global warming.
"Congress, unfortunately, has made more progress on steroids in baseball and the Patriots, whether they're taping NFL games, than they have on global climate change, the war, economic recession and a budget that's out of control." Vickers said. "That's what (ticks) me off. I'm passionate about making the world a better place, and global climate change is one of those things."
Vickers, who races Toyotas for Red Bull Racing in the Sprint Cup series, is a self-described "huge recycler" who drives a Lexus hybrid away from the track. He can't wait for the day when he can trade that car in for an all-electric model or one that runs on a hydrogen fuel cell.
And he's lobbying his sport to do its part, urging officials to increase recycling programs and proposing that NASCAR buy carbon offsets to mitigate its environmental impact — even if that impact already is minimal.
"It's a very small footprint we make," Vickers said. "It's only 38 races, 500 miles, 43 cars. The big global picture of things, it's a small place. It is a start, and every little bit matters."
Vickers' pro-environment comments might seem out of place in a sport that only recently switched from leaded to unleaded fuel. But NASCAR and its teams are beginning to wave the green flag as corporate sponsors express interest in using racing as a platform to
market environmentally friendly products.
"At first glance, it might strike some people as unusual bed-flows," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "But I think there's an opportunity as all of us
try to do a better job as a country on the environment."
Goodyear already cuts up used racing tires and recycles them into playground surfaces. A company called Safety-Kleen recycles oil and brake fluid at racetracks. Series sponsor Sprint recycles old cell phones. And in the grandstands, recycling bins are beginning to pop up next to garbage cans — even if the piles of paper in the media center still get thrown away instead of recycled.
green building guidelines. And yes, the idea of buying carbon credits is on the table.
Poston said NASCAR's new office complex in Charlotte and International Speedway Corp's new headquarters in Daytona are both being constructed according to
"It's a very small footprint we make. It's only 38 races,500 miles,43 cars."
"There's a groundswell of awareness," Roush Fenway racing president Geoff Smith said. "We're all going to find out that it's going to be to our benefit, to the teams' benefit and to NASCAR's benefit, to assume a leadership position in an area that's going to help actually bring more money into the garage."
NASCAR teaching fans about the
Smith said he has talked to several sponsors about green-themed programs. One wants to set up a pavilion outside racetracks where fans can learn about efficient household products.
BRIAN VICKERS
NASCAR driver
environment?
Smith said it isn't as odd as it seems.
"I think somebody did the math that all 43 cars all weekend don't put as much carbon into the air as much as one liberal's jet
coming from L.A. to Washington," Smith said. "So we don't have a big negative footprint. But at the same time, I think there's a big opportunity to have a really positive footprint."
NASCAR could make a big statement by switching from gasoline to a biofuel, something General Motors has been lobbying NASCAR to do for two years.
"I'm passionate about the environment, and I work in racing," said Brent Dewar, GM's vice president of field sales, service and parts. "I usually get the question, 'Isn't that contradictory?' No. We're very passionate about green racing."
The Indy Racing League's IndyCar series began racing on 100 percent ethanol last year. And Dewar said this year's Indianapolis 500 will be led by a prototype Corvette pace car that runs on E85 ethanol — and it will be driven by two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, who has a financial stake in the ethanol business in Brazil.
In a speech in January, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said officials are considering biofuels.
"While any steps we take with regards to fuels would have relatively little impact on the environment, it would be an important symbolic move," France said. "It's more important than ever to help make sure this country becomes energy independent and take the steps where we can to protect the environment. And you've got my commitment and everybody at NASCAR, we're going to do our part."
DON'S AUTO:
But Vickers isn't a fan of biofuels. Why turn food into fuel, he says, when something better is within reach?
"Now that you have the ability to make a good, functional hydrogen fuel cell car, then why are we even wasting our time with what's in between," Vickers said. "I don't understand that."
And Vickers isn't particularly hung up on driving a race car that runs on something other than gasoline. Instead, he can imagine a day when NASCAR is a museum in motion.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sam Hornish Jr enters the team's transporter for a break during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Saturday. Hornish's first child, a daughter, was born the week he reported to Daytona, and his commitment to racing caused him to miss 10 of the first 14 days of her life. He raced home following Sunday's season-opener so he could take over the midnight feedings wife Crystal had been handling alone.
Nascar driver heads home
FAMILY SPORTS
Sam Hornish returns to Ohio to help wife raise newborn
BY JENNA FRYER ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There was no time for Sam Hornish Jr. to celebrate his 15th-place showing in Daytona 500. The open-wheel star had to hustle back to Ohio to pitch in on diaper duty.
Hornish's first child, a daughter, was born the week he reported to Daytona, and his commitment to racing caused him to miss 10 of the first 14 days of her life. He raced home following Sunday's season-opener so he could take over the midnight feedings wife Crystal had been handling alone.
"I've been gone for about five days
out of each week over the past two
weeks that she's been around," he said. "My wife's been pretty much home alone taking care of things herself and I had to give her a little bit of a break. It been great as a first-time father and is something that I've been
been in it — lived through it," Hornish said. "That's how exciting it was for me."
Hornish had the best Daytona debut of all the new open-wheelers, running in or around the top 10 for almost the entire race. A mistake on a late pit stop, when he slid the nose of his Dodge outside the box and had to back up, cost him several positions and he had to hustle in the closing laps to salvage his finish.
"It probably kept us from having a top-10 finish," he guessed. "I think that was about the only hiccup that we had really all day long. To be a rookie at the Daytona 500, and to do what we set out to do — which was to get a top-20 finish — we were able to accomplish that and I was just
SAM HORNISH JR.
NASCAR driver
"My wife's been pretty much home alone taking care of things herself and I had to give her a little bit of a break."
Spending time with baby Addison didn't prevent Hornish from reliving his first Daytona 500. He found time while baby-sitting to watch a replay of the entire race, which ended with a 1-2 finish from Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.
"I'm really happy about that and hope everything continues to go as well with that as it has with the racing."
looking forward to for a very long time.
"My hands were sweating with 20 laps remaining and I had already
It completed a banner day for Penske Racing, which gave team owner Roger Penske his first Daytona 500 win. Pensha has 14 Indianapolis 500 victories, but was empty in 23 pre-
really happy with how everything worked."
"I would say that I was really surprised (with the Daytona finish), but I was confident when we made the decision to bring him in," Penks said. "He drove a masterful race. He was working with the teammates. I think he's going to be a real great team player."
As thrilled as the owner was for Newman's win and the impressive display of teamwork it took to accomplish it, Penske was just as pleased with Hornish's performance. Hornish, a three-time IndyCar Series champion and the last of Penske's Indy 500 winners, relied on Penske's advice before making this move to NASCAR.
"To finish 15th in his first race, stay out of trouble, I was amazed. I know the team was excited."
Struggles in his handful of starts last season — and his failure to qualify for his first six starts — had led many to believe the switch to stock cars was going to be a difficult transition for the most successful
vious years at Daytona.
American driver in IndyCar history.
In comparison, reigning IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti fell off the pace early, went a lap down and finished 33rd. The other two open-wheelers in this rookie class, Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier, failed to make the race and Villeneuve, a former Formula One world champion, may already be done with NASCAR. He's been replaced in his Bill Davis Racing ride this week and his future remains unclear.
As a former series champion, Busch has six provisionals he can rely on should he fail to qualify for a race on speed — and he actually had to use one to get into the Daytona 500 when a mechanical problem knocked him out of his qualifying race.
Now Hornish heads to California, where he has the luxury of knowing he's locked into the field. Penske took the points that Busch earned last year and moved them to Hornish's No. 77 ride to guarantee Hornish a spot in the first five races of this season.
Hornish is grateful for the gesture, and eager to do everything he can to help his teammates.
"Roger and Kurt and Ryan — all those guys have been great to me. I just try and do what I can to make this overall team better. We actually got a little bit of interaction in Victory Lane with everybody. I was just so excited that Penske Racing and Ryan were able to make it to Victory Lane at the Daytona 500.
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