Highlights
NASCAR might be wise to switch to ethanol
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-16 11:36
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Mashed-up corn is heated to produce vapor, which condenses into grain alcohol.
Sound familiar, NASCAR old-timers? It's the recipe for moonshine, the largely forgotten foundation of a sport that has moved from backwoods to big time.
But moonshine is going mainstream, too. You know it as ethanol — a gasoline alternative that isn't much different from the hooch (shh!) Junior Johnson used to hide in his trunk.
And given the current political climate, it might be smart for NASCAR to fire up the still.
The Indy Racing League is leading the way on alternative fuels, beginning a two-year transition to ethanol.
NASCAR? Those dinosaurs are still burning dinosaurs.
Last year, General Motors officials privately asked NASCAR to consider switching to ethanol. Sen. Tom Harkin (news, bio, voting record), D-Iowa, made a similar public plea to NASCAR CEO Brian France.
Their appeals didn't gain much traction. But that doesn't mean it was a bad idea.