AgWired fans know that I’ve had an opportunity to cover quite a bit of Indy, as in Indy Racing League. In fact, it was the move by the IRL to ethanol as a fuel in their cars that got us started covering what was happening in the renewable fuels industry. This week I get back in action at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton, IA. I’ll be on location by Thursday with pre-race activities being conducted by the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.

For a preview I spoke with Craig Floss, CEO, Iowa Corn Growers and Iowa Corn Promotion Board. This week’s race is the only one of the season where the fuel is American made corn ethanol. The IRL switched to ethanol from Brazil once there was no longer a Team Ethanol car in the series. However, Iowa Corn Growers have made sure there’s still one race that uses an American product.

Craig says the race has provided Iowa corn growers with a great platform to publish messages about ethanol, food, fuel and the livestock industry all of which are import components of their marketing efforts to make corn “disappear.” This is year four and they’ve come back for more. The name recognition has really increased during that time both in Iowa and nationally.

You can listen to my interview with Craig here.