Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO and Indy Racing League founder Tony George received the inaugural Friend of the Family Farmer Award during opening ceremonies of the National Farmers Union annual convention in Orlando, Fla.
The honor recognizes those outside of agriculture who are contributing to the livelihoods of America’s family farmers and ranchers, according to National Farmers Union president Tom Buis, who made the presentation March 3.
This year, the IndyCar Series is the first in motorsports to utilize a renewable and environmentally friendly fuel. Its high-tech and high-speed Honda Indy V-8 engines will be powered by 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol during the 17-race season that kicks off March 24 and includes the Indianapolis 500 on May 27.
“Since 1909, we’ve been about speed and innovation, †George said. “Ethanol is about innovation. â€
George said the world’s largest single-day sporting event is the perfect showcase for ethanol, which can help American passenger cars burn cleaner and more economically responsible fuels. Ethanol, which is made from renewable agricultural products, is unlike gasoline, which is a fossil fuel. Cleaner-burning, non-toxic and biodegradable, ethanol also is boosting local economies and expanding tax bases with production plants going online.
Ethanol, which is blended with gasoline in 46 percent of retail outlets in the United States, is growing in acceptance as both a renewable fuel as well as a means to decrease America’s energy dependence on other nations. Currently, ethanol-enriched fuel reduces the need for more than 600,000 barrels of oil per day.
In 2005, Congress approved a fuel standard that called for increasing ethanol use to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. The president is seeking to more than quadruple the amount of alternative fuel produced – to 35 billion gallons – by 2017. By the end of the year, about 140 facilities across the nation will be producing almost seven billion gallons of ethanol.
“Ethanol is going to help provide part of the solutions to the problems we face in our environment and our dependence on Middle East oil, †George said.
| 
|