Ecofriendly motor sports get green light at Sonoma Raceway
With a deafening roar and a burst of sparks, dozens of drag racing cars will hurtle down a short stretch of track at Sonoma Raceway this weekend. In a few seconds, they will reach speeds of more than 300 mph, burning staggering amounts of fuel.
It’s not exactly the California dream of slashing pollution and battling climate change.
And yet, as the state develops evermoreambitious climate goals and leans on automakers to build more efficient cars, raceway officials are working to go as green as possible while keeping their sport alive. With huge numbers of solar panels and an elaborate effort to reuse oil and other fluids, the Sonoma course is emphasizing sustainability in daytoday operations — while also showcasing clean vehicle technology.
“Our place in the sustainability movement might be a little suspect — this is not an industry where you might be
used to seeing (ecofriendly) initiatives,” said Sonoma Raceway President Steve Page. “But I think that gives us an interesting platform.”
The carbon footprint of races, like this weekend’s annual Sonoma Nationals put on by the National Hot Rod Association, is hard to measure. It depends on the number of cars and their engine specifications, the age of the vehicles, and the fuel itself (which is very specialized), said Dave Clegern, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, the state’s air regulator.
But Top Fuel dragsters — the long, ultrafast cars that dominate drag racing — can use up to 23 gallons of a fuel called nitromethane to go 1,000 feet. That’s vastly more than ordinary vehicles. Fuel usage is especially high at the Sonoma course, which is close to sea level and therefore allows engines to take in more oxygen — and hence more fuel — than higheraltitude courses.
Racing vehicles are exempt from state air quality regulations, Clegern said.
“One perspective might be that motor sport will have a hard time adapting” to the shift toward environmentalism and sustainability, said J.R. Hildebrand, a Larkspur native and IndyCar Series driver who has driven the Sonoma course many times and taught at Stanford’s vehicle dynamics lab.
And yet, he said, the sport seeks to demonstrate new technology, and “over the next decade, that core philosophy will be embraced more and more — out of both opportunity and necessity.”
For two years in a row, Sonoma Raceway — which is celebrating its 50th anniversary — has hosted an event called the Shell Ecomarathon, inviting 1,000 high school and college students to build energyefficient vehicles.
As for drag racing, some cars run on ethanol, an alcoholbased fuel that produces less carbon dioxide per gallon than normal gasoline (though it is often made from corn or other crops that require carbonintensive farming). A few allelectric Teslas are sometimes in the mix, showcasing their dramatic acceleration.
“Anyone who’s hit the pedal in a Tesla in ‘insane’ mode knows that you have a chance to be pretty dominant on your local drag strip,” Page said.
But electric cars do not make noise — a huge part of the appeal of drag racing — so that technology may not catch on too quickly.
It’s not just about the vehicles, though. Behind the scenes, the raceway is working to recapture used oil, cleaning solvents, fluids and lubricants and rerefine them for further use.
The raceway also has over 1,650 solar panels that provide twofifths of its energy needs. Its 1,600acre grounds — over half comprised of native grasslands — are maintained by 3,000 sheep. Officials chose locally sourced, sustainably grown redwoods for the stands.
Banners, billboards, flags and signs are sent to Santa Rosa textile manufacturer TekTailor to turn into usable products like tote bags and backpacks. Page delivers wine gifts to VIP attendees in bags made from materials recycled from the raceway.
Inevitably, the biggest climate negative probably comes from fans. Most people drive there, in cars or RVs, because it’s not easily reached by public transport.
The problem is hardly specific to drag racing — any entertainment facility that draws large crowds with lots of cars could result in a substantial amount of pollutants, said Clegern of the air board.
At Sonoma Raceway, “a good amount of people will camp overnight,” Page said, noting that at least they won’t make the drive every day. He believes that it’s a myth that people who are interested in automobiles don’t care about the environment. Some attendees, he said, arrive in electric vehicles and use a charging station made by ChargePoint, a Campbell company.
Hildebrand said Californians in particular seem to be able to blend having a zeroemissions car for everyday use with an enthusiasm for unconventional automobiles.
“More and more California garages reflect both of these things,” he said. There’s “a Tesla for daily use and a vintage Porsche for the weekends.”
“This is not an industry where you might be used to seeing (ecofriendly) initiatives.” Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president