NASCAR And Fuel Efficiency Will Never Go Together

Let me preface this article by stating that I am a NASCAR fan. But as much as I want to, I can’t go along with the connection being made between race cars and fuel efficiency. As long as they run on traditional fuels, it just doesn’t work.

That being said, I was more than a bit confused by the arrival of several NASCAR race cars at the White House this week. Of all things, the NASCAR presence was in part intended to promote vehicle efficiency. The message, brought to you with the help of NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney, was that much like in NASCAR, having the right tires on your passenger car can help save fuel, result in lower carbon emissions and reduce the risk of a crash.

Sure… but I don’t think it’s too hard to see the irony here. The message makes sense for passenger cars. But if we were really concerned about the environmental impact or fuel useage, how about starting with not allowing 43 cars that have 800 horsepower each go around a track 500 times in the name of sport?

This also brings to mind the NASCAR Green Initiative, which promoted the use of ethanol in the fuel as somehow being “green.” Sure, it’s better than nothing, but not much.

Of course, race cars aside, there are millions of offenders when it comes to driving inefficiently – which is why the message continues to be promoted. But selling that message using NASCAR seems as inefficient as the vehicles that are causing the issue.