Overheard from Brian France, CEO NASCAR (via zachklein)
While this one fact is likely true for the cars on the track, this discounts the fact that each NASCAR team each has at least one 53-foot trailer for the vehicle and parts, one motorhome for the driver, then approximately three 53-foot trailers for the marketing support for each team. What’s more is that all of these are running for approximately 18 hours per day for three days straight. The hum of diesel engines running is something you drown out after a while, I guess.
And of course all the team members drive (when the race is within four hours of North Carolina, where most of them are centered) or fly. Each NASCAR team (there are over 40 of them on the grid) has 6-8 pit crew guys, a few engineers, engine specialists, car chief, crew chief, team boss and support folk. If NASCAR is trying to say they’re more green than the NFL they’ve certainly cherrypicked a few choice nuggets of information to build their case.
I am a long-time motorsports fan and appreciate NASCAR for what it is; I just can’t give them a pass for this type of spin. If you’re interested in learning about a racing series that is thinking about a way to reward innovation and technology in the support of next-generation environmental thinking, check out the American Le Mans Series Green Challenge.
