Sources close to the talks, cited by NASCAR.com, say that Sunoco will continue to be the official fuel of the competition, with Growth Energy to join in as marketing partner. That means that, in exchange for some badly needed cash, NASCAR will promote Growth Energy's principles and goals, as well as the American ethanol industry as a whole.
Aside for the obvious financial benefits for the two soon-to-be partners, an agreement would fall in line with NASCAR's goal to begin using 15 percent ethanol-blended fuel as soon as next season.
Considering the fact that Sunoco has its own ethanol production plant, word of a partnership between the racing series and Growth Energy raised its shares of eyebrows. NASCAR commented, but not quite, on the information.
"We haven't specified a time frame in transitioning to a next-generation fuel, nor do we speculate or comment on potential new partners," NASCAR spokesman Andrew Giangola told the source.
Even so, the use of ethanol was confirmed in December last year by NASCAR's chief marketing officer Steve Phelps. At the time, the executive said the sanctioning body is looking into using a corn-based ethanol blend.
NASCAR, already committed to making the environment greener, has already used hybrid vehicles as pace cars. Around the track, NASCAR has a recycling agreement with Coca Cola, with whom it became the largest recycler in the world of sports in 2009 (they gathered 70 tons of waste and 2.5 million containers).
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