Ethanol fuels drag racing team
9:58 a.m. Friday, May 26, 2006
The NHRA Summer Nationals are underway, with lots of teams burning rubber and gas on the track.
But, there's one team that won't be burning gas. Its fuel is almost edible.
The NHRA Summer Nationals is at Topeka's Heartland Park.
The dragsters are cooking with gas, except for one team. They're fueled by corn.
Ticket information
The NHRA Summer Nationals will continue through Sunday. Tickets are still available for purchase through the Heartland Park box office. For more information, call the Heartland Park office at 1-800-43-RACES or log on to Ticketmaster. See Saturday's schedule of events.
"It is on 98 percent ethanol," said Randy Nygaard of Team Ethanol. "You have to de-nature the fuel. Otherwise it's moon shine. You could drink it. So, we have to de-nature it with gas."
And the carrier truck runs on soy diesel.
Hailing from South Dakota, Randy Nygaard is a driving member of Team Ethanol. He and his brother Brian have been racing for about 30 years.
The team has been racing with ethanol for about six years, and Randy says they are the only team using ethanol in this weekend's race.
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Randy says ethanol is not hard on the engine.
"You can sit there. We can let 'em run," Randy said. "We can start it up and let run all day. It won't heat up because the fuel is so cool that it keeps the motor cool."
And Randy says, his fellow competitors do not give him a hard time.
"Oh no. They come over and wanna know how they can convert it and stuff," Randy said.
He says these 377 small block Chevys use about a gallon and a half of ethanol during an actual race. The fuel is sponsored, so it doesn't cost the team anything. But, in his personal pick up, Randy will fill up for about $1.88.
That's pretty cheap considering today's prices. And, Randy says the use of ethanol is growing.
"With all the plants going up - South Dakota, Iowa. They're shipping all down to California now too. It's all over, really it's all over the world."
Randy loves the thrill of racing he says it's in his blood.
"It's a hobby. I don't hunt, fish, do anything like that so you got to have something to do. I've always loved it. My family loves it."
Even a bad racing accident didn't deter him.
"I said I was done," Randy said. "But, laying there after I broke my back for three weeks ... I kinda looked through the National Dragster, found another car, built another car and went back at it."
As for the ethanol fuel, Randy says it's a good thing because it's renewable, not harmful, and it's good for the community.
"Helps the farmers," he said. "It's all-American made is what's really nice about it. It's all made in the U.S.A."
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