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Wednesday, December 07, 2011

One Year of American Ethanol

Throughout the 2011 NASCAR season, every race car and truck in the Sprint, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series ran on Sunoco Green E15 as part of the American Ethanol partnership.

According to NASCAR officials and drivers, the E15 fuel blend has met and surpassed expectations – providing increased horsepower with minimal decrease in mileage. In fact, NASCAR’s 2011 Million Mile Report, proved that NASCAR racing vehicles accumulated more than a million miles of practice, qualifying and racing laps on E15 without any problems.

The American Ethanol partnership and the million mile landmark is helping NASCAR to go green and educating millions of consumers about the economic, environmental and national security benefits of ethanol.

And every race weekend, fans were reminded about these benefits through NASCAR’s newest special award, the American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award. The award was given weekly to the participating driver who recorded the fastest average speed on restarts and who finished the race on the lead lap.

Throughout the season, American Ethanol partners presented the award to sixteen different Cup Series drivers. And NASCAR Cup Series Driver Matt Kenseth won the award a record-high seven times. Every Green Flag presentation was an opportunity to showcase the partnership and the benefits of domestic ethanol.

At this year’s Champions Week in Las Vegas, Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis delivered the special award to Kenseth for winning the Green Flag the most times in the 2011 season.

In front of more than 500 NASCAR reps, fans and supporters, Kenseth accepted the award and thanked American Ethanol for its dedication as a NASCAR partner.

He said, “Thanks a lot, I appreciate American Ethanol and Growth Energy and Sunoco for making such a great fuel this year. I think when we heard an ethanol was coming in there was question about doing something new and I think the thing that’s best about it is you never heard anything about it, nobody had any problems. It worked great, it’s been good for the environment, it’s been good for NASCAR and we appreciated being a part of it.”

It has been one year since the American Ethanol partnership was formed and NASCAR drivers like Kenseth have been showcasing E15 as the new fuel of choice to American consumers across the country.

Next year, there will be another American Ethanol special award and another million miles driven on Sunoco Green E15. Ultimately, we hope that NASCAR’s adoption of E15 will encourage all American motorists to embrace ethanol as a high octane fuel that provides quality performance, reduces harmful emissions and frees us from our costly dependence on foreign oil.