Rick C Johnson
Having some experience with motorsports (over 15 years as tuner, engine
builder and crash/rescue worker with about every series you can name)
I'd like to make a few points on the subject of the impact of motorsports.
It's easy for people on the outside of the fence to look a motor racing
and ask "what's the point?" After all it's loud, chaotic and often
involves dramatic crashes that get replayed over and over. It appears to
be simply a lot of fuel is wasted and a bunch of tires trashed.
But not all is exactly as it appears:
* For the majority of events you'd be surprised at how little fuel
is actually used since track time is very limited. A typical Pro
level sprint distance event will see each class on the track only
2-3 hours per day. Even with the poor mileage associated with
running at full throttle much of the time it still doesn't add up
to a lot. Drag racing is even more frugal - for many a few gallons
will see you through the whole day. Want to have some fun with
numbers? Multiply the number of people in your city by the
national average annual miles driven. Then divide that by the
average miles per gallon. Or look up the fuel consumption of the
last commercial jet you flew on and divide that by the number of
passengers. Either example will put things in perspective.
* The types of fuel is interesting as well. The higher the value and
performance of the vehicle the higher the quality of the fuel it
requires. Highly purified (little or no sulfur or other
contaminants) and very clean burning is the norm. Just what you
might expect for between $5-20 a gallon. Alcohol is also common,
even more clean burning and from a renewable source. Indycars have
been powered by it for decades and next year the series will run
only 100% ethanol (currently they use a methanol/ethanol blend).
The technology necessary to run alternate fuels such as alcohol
("the fuel of the future") has already been done thanks to racing.
* Even though at Pro events a lot of tires may be consumed they are
nearly all recycled. The tire manufacturers that support the
series put a lot of effort into making very high quality tires.
These tires recycle far better than your average street tire and
the tire sponsors collect them directly from the event.
* Every crash and spill is immediately cleaned up by trained track
workers. You can see how seriously this is treated by watching a
typical crash response - the absorbent is usually being put down
at the same time the driver is attended to (sometimes even
before). Powdered rice hull (or clay/cat litter) is used as an
absorbent to catch any on track spills. At all tracks there is on
site collection of waste oils, coolants, brake fluid and
contaminated fuel. Most professional series prohibit all coolants
due to the difficulty of cleanup in the event of a spill. Compare
that to the cleanup your average street crash receives and it's
laughable.
And it is true that the urine output is high at NASCAR events, the
port-a-potty contract for those events is a highly profitable one. No joke.
Rick
Jeff Wills wrote:
>>Anyone know the ecological effects of auto racing? (broad question im
>>sure?)
>>
>>