I’ll be driving home tomorrow but she’ll be on site for the race so you may want to keep an eye on Domestic Fuel to see what she finds. The cars will be running on ethanol so that once again, no matter who gets the checkered flag, our farmers and our environment win.

I also thought I’d point you to a post on Corn Commentary that Cindy did last night. It’s called “Bill of Confusion” in which she re-wrote some lyrics for the Temptations famous “Ball of Confusion.” It kind of summarizes the whole farm bill situation. It’s worth a read and feel free to sing it. In fact, if you sing Cindy’s lyrics and record and send them in we’ll not only post it but send you an AgWired t-shirt. C’mon. I dare you.

Check out the video here:

I think Laura’s having fun wouldn’t you say?

Tomorrow, both EPIC and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council will be sponsoring discounted fuel at Crystal Flash pumps in Indianapolis. Consumers will get to fill up with E10 for $2.97 or E85 for $1.85. EPIC is sponsoring a corvette giveaway with Hank FM on Wednesday and EPIC will host the Ethanol Summit and Panel Discussion on Thursday.

The rest of the weekend will feature member activities, driver autograph sessions, garage tours, the IPL 500 Festival Parade and, of course, the Indy 500 race.

You can find complete coverage of Indy 500 events and activities on DomesticFuel.com.

During the press conference I asked him how he felt about winning by burning a renewable fuel in his car and how it performed. He has no problem with ethanol. In fact, he said it helped him get better gas mileage and that was beneficial in the end.

Listen to Dario talk about ethanol here: Download audio file (indy-07-dario.mp3)

The race was shortened by rain and called after 166 laps. I heard several drivers saying they just couldn’t get into a normal race flow and that’s too bad but I guess it’s just the way it is. They’ll be racing again in another week. I’ll be attending two more races this season so count on some more IRL action on AgWired.

Don’t forget to check out my online photo album which Laura McNamara and I have contributed to during this past week and have a great holiday.

Jeff Simmons in the ethanol car has been running very strong today. It looks like the race will be won on strategy and pit stop timing since the cars are pretty much out of sync with their normal plan.

I’ll try to be in victory lane and the winner’s press conference after the race and will bring you the finale as we see ethanol win no matter which car comes across the finish line first.

I just happened to be in the right place but I had my hands full of camera and couldn’t get my recorder out to try to do an impromptu interview. Thanks to a Rahal-Letterman team member for taking the shot for me.

This has been an interesting day so far. We’re going to get the race re-started here soon and then we’ll see what happens. In any case, ethanol will win the Indy 500!

Here’s Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning waving the green “e” flag to start the race here this afternoon.

I’ve posted the audio of the start for you each of the last couple years and this year is now different. In the following audio file you’ll hear the most famous words in automobile racing and the sound of these high powered engines as they crank it up.

Listen to the start of the race: Download audio file (indy-07-start-engines.mp3)

Right now Tony Kanaan is in first place and that looks like it will stand up. The ethanol car driven by Jeff Simmons led one lap and his car was running great today. I’ll have more after the winner is officially announced.

We’re hoping for some clearing today and will stay here as long as we can to cover the 91st running of the “greatest spectacle in racing.” Some of the regular morning activities have at least been postponed temporarily so I guess we’ll sit tight with everyone else and see what happens.

In the meantime here’s some audio for you from last night’s reception when Jeff Simmons, IndyCar driver of the Team Ethanol Car spoke.

Jeff says that the story is how far ethanol has come and where things are at with the industry. He got involved right after Paul Dana’s untimely death last year and has had the opportunity to learn a lot about the fuel and especially how it performs in an engine. Like other drivers have been saying in the IRL and other leagues that are now experimenting with ethanol, he says they get better gas mileage and no loss of performance. I’m not an engineer but it appears that an engine that’s tuned to run properly on ethanol will not perform worse when it comes to mileage than regular gas. I’m sure that this would be the case in consumer model cars as well. In fact, I’m betting we’ll see this happen as the fuel and industry continues to develop and works with the auto manufacturers on this issue.

You can listen to Jeff’s remarks here: Download audio file (indy-07-jeff-reception.mp3)
Jeff is introduced by EPIC executive director Tom Slunecka and answers a few questions at the end of his remarks which are about 7 minutes long.

This is our bartender at the EPIC member reception last night who was very animated and enjoyed making a new drink. Prior to the reception we had him practice and did a little quality control to make sure they were just right.

It’s a fun idea that ties right into the whole idea of promoting a renewable fuel.

Tonya is pictured here outside the Rahal-Letterman Racing hospitality suite. I was impressed with how strong she seems to be. It has to take courage to come out here in light of what happened to Paul. Tonya says that the support she’s received from friends in the ethanol industry and the IRL has been tremendous. She does see this year’s race as the fulfillment of Paul’s dream and she says she’s ready to help the ethanol industry in any way she can.

You can listen to my interview with Tonya Dana here: Download audio file (indy-07-tonya.mp3)