Nascar Driver Uses Hypermiling Tricks to Win Race
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 06.23.08
Fuel Efficiency Wins the Day
Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended a string of 2 years and 76 races without a win by using a few tips that are well known to hypermilers (people who try to get the very best fuel economy possible from their cars).
Careful driving, lots of coasting, cutting the engine, pulse & glide, and other hypermiling tricks allowed Earnhardt to do the final 55 laps - 110 miles - without stopping for gas. That's 6 more laps than he would normally have been able to do. He even crossed the finishing line while coasting, and ran out of fuel soon afterwards.
Why this kind of Hypermiling Matters
Motor racing has some green elements, but overall it's definitely not very green. But the fuel used by the race cars is very tiny when compared with the fuel used by the millions of racing fans. If a story about fuel efficiency and hypermiling gets attention and can make some of these people reconsider how they drive and the important of fuel efficiency (and with high gas prices, that's already happening on its own), then that's a good thing.
We're pragmatic, and we doubt that racing is going away any time soon, so the more it can be used as a platform to reach people - like when the Planet Green TV crew dropped by the Indy 500 - the better.
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Learn Why Driving at a Relatively Constant Speed is Greener
More on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s NASCAR Hypermiling
arnhardt prevails on fumes at Michigan ahead of Kahne, Kenseth
Dale Earnhardt Jr Hypermiles to Victory in NASCAR Racing
I used to hypermile, but then kind of lost the habit. But I've been getting back to it lately. It's great, almost like a game. I'm far from extreme and never do anything dangerous, but any improvement is welcome and it makes driving more fun.
Here is some "green" racing:
http://www.vw.com/vwhype/motorsport/en/us/#/jetta_tdi_cup/
Very cool info!
thanks
Jeremey Clarkson did something like 800 miles on a single tank of diesel for some random episode of Top Gear.
This is the positive image that hypermiling driving needs - now, if we can get a similar story involving a Formual 1 driver or two my students might start to take notice of my advice!
That's really cool! I never thought about the green aspect there! I hope the strategy helps him through the season - I signed up to have my name on his car in Talladega so I'm really pulling for a win! Just enter 'DALEWINS' at ampenergy.com to have your name on his car too!