Kansas Corn Promotes E15 at NASCAR Kansas Speedway

By CnAgri2012-10-26 19:54:51 Print

American Ethanol and Kansas Corn reached tens of thousands of people during the recent NASCAR races at the Kansas Speedway. As part of the American Ethanol partnership the Kansas Corn Commission has encouraged NASCAR to use E15 -- a 15-percent ethanol fuel - in all their racing vehicles. Since 2011 NASCAR has driven more than 3 million miles on the ethanol blend.

During the Oct. 20 and 21 races, the Kansas Corn Commission and Nebraska Corn Board helped to sponsor the American Ethanol display at the Kansas Speedway. The display featured an Austin Dillon #3 American Ethanol showcar, a New Holland combine and an ethanol blender pump supplied by Missouri Corn and MFA Oil. Their supportive effort reached thousands who came to the midway area to see driver appearances and get information from the exhibitors.

"It was a great visual to see the combine with a corn header, the American Ethanol NASCAR car and a blender pump all together," according to Kansas Corn Commission Communications Director Sue Schulte. "We had a lot of race fans stop by and ask about ethanol and farming. It was a fantastic educational opportunity."

E15 fuel is now available to all vehicles model year 2001 and newer in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. Staff working at the American Ethanol booth fielded questions about the new fuel.

"The people I spoke with definitely made the connection between E15 fuel, NASCAR and the ability to use it in their own vehicles," Schulte said. "One man from Kansas City told me he filled up with E15 in Iowa and it ran so well in his car he wanted to find it in Kansas City. He was happy to learn we have two Zarco 66 stations in Olathe that sell E15."

Currently, Kansas has seven stations that offer E15 in the cities of Olathe, Lawrence, Ottawa and Paola.

NASCAR drivers #99 Kenny Wallace and #3 Austin Dillon made appearances at the American Ethanol display, signed autographs for fans and talked about the benefits of E15 fuel.

"You have 80 thousand people here listening to the American Ethanol message, and that's powerful," Wallace said.

Schulte said both Wallace and Dillon are great spokespersons for American Ethanol. Both drove in the Nationwide race on Saturday.