Jeff had an awesome practice session today.
At one point he made it a 3 car wide practice lap as he was passing other cars. That got everyone excited.
Jeff ended up with the 7th fastest practice lap this morning at 214.152 MPH.
I never get tired of hearing these engines whine on a 10 percent ethanol blend. If you haven’t heard them, here’s a sound clip that starts while Jeff is still in the pit and for about a minute after he peals out: 
Practice Laps (1 min MP3)
Here’s a very confident looking race car driver.
This is Jeff Simmons about to get in his car for some practice laps this morning.
I talked to Jeff at yesterday’s 7-11 ethanol pump promotion. He says he’s had a lot of luck here at this track and can’t wait to get out on it. Well he’s about to. You can listen to my interview with Jeff here: Jeff Simmons Interview (3 min MP3)
Here’s what’s really important when you’re doing a pump promotion. Money.
This is one of the money men inside the 7-11 where we had an ethanol pump promotion this morning. I think we did very well since the line was long and continuous.
I’ll have a lot more to come over the next several days from here in the Chicago area as we head toward the last IRL season race Sunday.
I don’t know if I’m going to get to interview all of the Indy car drivers this year but I’m getting close. Maybe by the end of this weekend.
One of several drivers at today’s ethanol pump promotion in Romeoville, IL was Tony Kanaan, Team 7-11. He had to be there since we were at a 7-11.
Tony was certainly in demand for autographs and interviews. I was able to get a couple minutes with him. He’s from Brazil and is proud of how significant a role ethanol plays in the fuel industry there and says it’s about time we got on board with it here in the United States too.
Tony believes that the environmental benefits of using ethanol are huge and when it comes to performance in your car, he just shrugs and says to look at how well the Indy cars are running this year on only a 10 percent blend.
We had a lot of young IRL fans out here today too like this little guy getting a high five from Tony.
You can listen to my interview with Tony here: Tony Kanaan Interview (2 min MP3)
Today’s 7-11 Ethanol Pump Promotion had beautiful sunshine and a crowd of people. You can find more on Domestic Fuel but I’ve got some posts for you here too.
Getting things moving this morning at the 7-11 pump promotion was Rahal-Letterman driver Jeff Simmons (front) and 7-11 Manager for Gasoline and Environmental Compliance, Scott Johnson.
They drove in to the pumps in an Indy Car 2-seater.
Before they got in the car I interviewed Scott about 7-11’s involvement with ethanol. He handles the Great Lakes division as well as the northeast and says that they’re thrilled to be using and promoting ethanol. He would love to do promotions like this at many more stores around the country. Scott also says that the company is looking at E85 and studying how or when to start installing E85 pumps.
You can listen to my interview with Scott here: Scott Johnson Interview (4 min MP3)
Hello from Chicago (Lisle to be exact). It’s a beautiful morning. The moon was still bright just before sunrise.
The day has started off with an EPIC staff meeting as we get ready to promote ethanol with a pump promotion involving several of the IRL drivers in just a couple hours. Then it will be off to the Chicagoland Speedway to get my media credentials for the weekend’s activities, including the race on Sunday.
I’ll have more pictures and some interviews for you later on today.
Here’s my next stop. I’m leaving shortly for Chicago and a weekend of activities helping to promote ethanol with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. It’s a race weekend and the last one of the season for the Indy Racing League. I’ll be following the activities of Jeff Simmons in particular as he competes in the #17 Team Ethanol Car for Rahal-Letterman Racing.
Besides the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 on Sunday, we’ve got a pump promotion going on tomorrow morning.
IRL IndyCar® Series drivers Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Jeff Simmons and Jeff Bucknum will be on hand Friday at the 7-Eleven convenience and fuel station in Romeoville, pumping low-priced fuel ($2.20 unleaded) for customers as they promote the use of ethanol in street fuel as well as their 220 mile per hour racing machines. The drivers will be available to speak with the media while they interact and pump fuel for the public.
A new report by the FAO says that almost half the fish eaten as food worldwide is raised on a farm rather than being caught in the wild. I think that’s interesting but don’t know why. Anyway. You can read all about it in “The State of World Aquaculture 2006.”
This report was presented at the biennial meeting of the FAO Sub-Committee on Aquaculture (New Delhi, 4-8 September). There’s a lot of other information in there. A lot of it has to do with how aquaculture can help feed people, especially in under-developed nations.
There is a new slate of officers for the American Phytopathological Society. They took over their terms at the end of July.
New APS President Jan E. Leach is a professor and plant pathologist in the Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management Department at Colorado State University. “APS is a thriving association, with a diverse and global membership. We are in an excellent position to build on ongoing initiatives and explore new directions to ensure that APS remains relevant to our membership into the future. Participating in this process will make this an exciting year for me,” Leach said.
Leach succeeded John H. Andrews, University of Wisconsin, who now serves as immediate past president.
Other 2006-2007 officials include: Raymond D. Martyn, Jr., Purdue University, president-elect; James W. Moyer, North Carolina State University, vice president; Danise T. Beadle, Bayer CropScience, secretary; Randall C. Rowe, Ohio State University, treasurer.
For a complete listing of the 2006-2007 APS Council, visit http://www.apsnet.org/directories/council.cfm.
I’m going to be reminding you periodically over the next few weeks about The AgWired Survey. I know it just got started but results are already pouring in. For example, most of the categories of types of business you’re in have been checked.
I also love and appreciate the comments. Here’s an example of one, “I am relatively new to the site, however I enjoy lots of agricultural topics: bio-fuels, livestock husbandry, and typical farm life. Although I am employed as a biologist in Florida, I haven’t forgotten my roots in the midwest. Can’t wait to make it back to Missouri.”
Keep it up AgWired fans. Your input will be a big help and you can be sure I’ll share the results with you. We’re breaking new ground together!
