Oct 20, 2003

Racing or Economy Run?

By JR Nerad

Remember the old Mobil Economy Run? In it, everyday passenger cars would drive and drive and drive to see which one turned in the best fuel economy. Because it was long before the Environmental Protection Agency-mandated fuel economy stickers, it was one of the few ways to get fuel-efficiency information. Since gasoline was about 15 cents a gallon in those days, you have to wonder who cared, and for the most part, nobody did, which I guess is why Mobil quite sponsoring the darn thing.

But I'm afraid that these days, motor races are starting to have the stink of the old economy runs. It seems that in modern racing, because of sanctioning body restrictions on the amount of fuel cars can use, drivers are becoming almost as concerned with conserving gas as they are in going fast.

As an example, this quote from Gil de Ferran right after his victory in the Indy Racing League's season-concluding Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway:

"I really concentrated hard on saving fuel, and I was trying to take as few risks as I could and save as much fuel as I could at that point. I knew if I did that, my last stop was going to be very short and that could have made the difference in the race."

Now there's hard-charging racing for you. "I concentrated hard on saving fuel." Hey, what's more exciting to watch than a driver trying to save fuel? Watching varnish dry on a new commode? Dozing off in an easy chair with a Ladies Home Journal over your face? Tuning in to a World Series that includes the Florida Marlins?

"I was trying to take as few risks as I could and save as much fuel as I could." Now that's a recipe for riveting action. Who should be doing the racing commentary? Martha Stewart? Ralph Nader? Jacques Cousteau?

This isn't just a problem confined to the IRL either. In NASCAR everybody is trying to figure out where Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing South team are hiding fuel, because he has racked up a series-high eight victories this season largely on the strength of better fuel economy that has allowed him to skip pit stops.

Winston Cup Director John Darby insists that Newman isn't cheating by stashing extra fuel somewhere on the car -- have they looked in his helmet or in the rollcage? -- but that hasn't stopped people from suspecting chicanery.

The point is, in our humble opinion, fuel mileage shouldn't win races. Going fast should. Unless it's the Mobil Economy Run, that is.