Compiled by Charis Patires
They are one of the most beloved racing teams at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout … and they come to win. American Ethanol spends all year preparing for the race with one goal in mind to go faster.
Owend by Don Onken, American Ethanol has racked up six consecutive Top Gun trophies (2015-2020). The fastest speed clocked was 217 miles per hour. He’s outnumbered by world-champion racer Dave Scott who holds the record for number of Top Gun wins at eight, five of them consecutive. Scott has since retired from racing making it possible for Don to eventually outpace him with the number of Top Guns.
choose a style, customize, publish and get found. from just $7.99 a month. get a 30-day free trial. at intuit.com. jon: pardon the pun, but nascar is on a roll. viewership is up among key segments of the population. that s good for nascar and good for the businesses that support it. joining us now, the ceo and chairman of nascar, brian france. brian, yours is a sport in which change is not always popular. you guys changed the fuel this year. you re going with, what, an ethanol blend. is it working? it s working great. it s an american biofuel with ethanol, with american ethanol. we re putting out a lot of the myths that occur in that industry. the fuel mileage has been great, the performance of the fuel. it helps us in our march towards, you know, leading the way in the sports in the green economy and be helps us attract
other companies with technology and in that space. so it s been a great partnership, and we re only in year one. jon: you know, there are a lot of people who don t want to put ethanol in their regular cars, their driving around on the streetcars because they don t think it has the power, or it s bad for the engine. you re proving, or you re convinced that is not the case? we know it. and that s why they partnered with us, because they knew it as well. if it can withstand the test of 500 miles of the close e competition under extreme circumstances, it ll work everywhere, and it does, and we re proving it every sunday. jon: your viewership peaked not that long ago and had been dipping since then. why do you think nascar is coming back, and can you get back to the levels of interest you had just a few years ago? i think we can. we ve had, generally, a growth year and, as you said, it s ratings. television ratings. some attendance issues going in the right way. but, look, we re still