The 53rd running of the Daytona 500 is around the corner, February 20, to be exact, and when this event takes place, it will mark the beginning of a new era – the era of NASCAR running on Sunoco Green E15. This 2011 season, all three national NASCAR series will be running on this American made, American produced fuel and as this famous race nears, NASCAR took the opportunity to welcome the new fuel and National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) to the family.
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“NASCAR is very proud to welcome as partners the hard-working family farmers all over the United States who grow the corn that will be used in our new Sunoco Green E15 fuel,” said Brian France, Chairman and CEO of NASCAR. “We are happy our sport can play a part in creating jobs and fostering energy independence by using a renewable fuel grown and produced in America.”
Last year NASCAR announced that it would be switching to Sunoco Green E15, a 15 percent ethanol blend made with corn grown in America. Shortly thereafter, the league announced its partnership with the American ethanol industry that includes Growth Energy and the NCGA.
During a press call this morning, I asked how much E15 would be used in all three series. Jim O'Connell, Chief Sales Officer for NASCAR said that since this was the first year to use the fuel, he was unsure of the total number of gallons that would be used. However, he stressed that he was "absolutely sure it would be American grown, American produced ethanol."
Darrin Ihnen, NCGA's Chairman and a corn farmer from Hurley, South Dakota, also said during the call that they are excited about this opportunity to educate motorists and NASCAR fans at race tracks around the country about the great work American corn growers are doing in feeding and fueling the world. He said that ethanol will be extremely visible as it races around the track and in addition they will support their on-track campaign with high-profile TV ads as well as a strong grassroots campaign that will include American farmers on the track answering consumer questions about the fuel. NCGA will work closely with Growth Energy on their educational and promotional activities.
“The goal is to bring ethanol’s positive messages from job creation to cleaner air to consumers. When people hear a message like ‘American Ethanol: Trusted By NASCAR,’ that carries a lot of weight and adds to ethanol’s credibility and reputation,” concluded Ihnen.
Listen to NCGA's NASCAR Partnership Press Conference here: "NCGA
Studies from Harvard University, Department of Ophthalmology have provided new data on retinopathy of prematurity.(Report)
Health & Medicine Week August 9, 2010 New research, ‘Deactivation of the rod response in retinopathy of prematurity,’ is the subject of a report. “It is known that retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) alters the activation of rod photoreceptors, but the effect of ROP on deactivation has not been investigated. We studied deactivation using an electroretinographic (ERG) paired flash procedure in 22 subjects (12 infants and 10 older subjects) with a history of preterm birth and ROP,” scientists in the United States report (see also Retinopathy of Prematurity). site test flash player
“The amplitude of the rod-isolated a-wave response to a flash presented 2-120 s after a test flash was measured, and the time at which it reached 50% of the single flash amplitude (t(50)) was determined by linear interpolation. Deactivation results were compared to those in former preterms who never had ROP (n=6) and term-born controls. In infants, t(50) values of ROP subjects did not differ from those in subjects who never had ROP or term-born controls. Among mature ROP subjects, eight of 12 had t(50) values longer than any control subject,” wrote R.M. Hansen and colleagues, Harvard University, Department of Ophthalmology. web site test flash player
The researchers concluded: “Prolonged deactivation in these mature ROP subjects may indicate lack of maturation of the deactivation process (t(50)) or progressive compromise of retinal function with increasing age.” Hansen and colleagues published their study in Documenta Ophthalmologica Advances In Ophthalmology (Deactivation of the rod response in retinopathy of prematurity. Documenta Ophthalmologica Advances In Ophthalmology, 2010;121(1):29-35).
For more information, contact R.M. Hansen, Children’s Hospital, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA.
One of the dignitaries attending the Marquis Energy Appreciation Day was Darin LaHood, Illinois Sen. 37th Dist., pictured (left) with NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace. Darin represents ten counties and agriculture is the number one industry. He says that the economic impact that ethanol makes on their communities is tremendous. He says that Marquis Energy talks about feeding and fueling the world and the reality is they feed and fuel the local economy too. He going to continue to advocate for what they’re doing at every opportunity in the state legislature.
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American Ethanol will be the primary sponsor of the No. 33 Chevrolet car at the June 5th Kansas Speedway 400 and an associate sponsor of the car for the rest of the season. Bowyer, who is a native of Kansas, will serve as an official spokesman for American Ethanol this season.
The American Ethanol marketing agreement, led by Growth Energy in partnership with the 
“When we hit Daytona, get ready,” Wallace said. “Because NASCAR is the number one source of motor sports in the entire world and when NASCAR runs ethanol, it’s going to be on everybody’s radar.”
