Will NASCAR Go Ethanol?

Science & Technology (alternative energy)

"I think the global-warming thing, and all the things that are written about that, a lot more people are aware of the fact that we do need to do something." Quick quiz. Did this quote come from A) a member of the TreeHugger staff B) musician Jack Johnson or C) NASCAR driver Kyle Petty? If you chose C, you probably read this post's title. Or, you might have read this Time article outlining NASCAR's potential to change many American's perception of alternative fuels. The article quotes both Petty and fellow NASCAR driver Jeff Burton as saying that the potential of the sport's marketing power could change the perception of ethanol as a fringe fuel for "that guy with the Volkswagen van that runs off of whatever," to a mainstreamed homegrown alternative. Although NASCAR is a running late to the ethanol party, it is possible (as others have said before) that their move into alternative fuel could prove to be the tipping point.