NASCAR has announced that during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Phoenix it surpassed more than 5 million competition miles across its three national series on Sunoco Green E15, a biofuel blended with 15 percent American ethanol made from American grown corn. The 5 million miles have been accumulated across practice, qualifying and racing laps dating back to 2011 when the bio-fuel was introduced.

"Fuel is fundamental to our sport and our teams demand performance without compromise," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. "With more than five million miles of hard competitive driving across our three national series, Sunoco's Green E15 renewable fuel stands up to rigorous racing conditions while significantly reducing our impact on the environment."

In 2011 NASCAR entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Sunoco and the American Ethanol industry, launching its long-term bio fuels program to reduce emissions of the fuel used across its three national series. The transition to the bio-fuel reduced on-track carbon emissions and teams report an increase in horsepower.

"The National Corn Growers Association joined the American Ethanol partnership with Growth Energy and NASCAR because we knew ethanol would perform and shine in a very public way. General awareness of ethanol and its benefits is extremely high with the tens of millions of fans who watch racing every week," said Martin Barbre, NCGA president and Carmi, Ill. farmer. "Ethanol support has always been strong in corn production states, but now the knowledge of ethanol's economic, environmental and energy security advantages are growing coast to coast."

Since transitioning to the bio-fuel blended with 15 percent ethanol, NASCAR has helped validate the fuel's qualities and the positive environmental impact of ethanol in front of an audience of millions of NASCAR fans, helping shift attitudes and behaviors around the use of ethanol.

According to new research conducted in July, when compared to non-fans, NASCAR fans are nearly 70 percent more likely to support the use of ethanol blended with gasoline to fuel NASCAR race cars, more than 50 percent more likely to support the use of ethanol blended with gasoline to fuel their own car, and 40 percent more likely to support the use of ethanol blended with gasoline to fuel cars on the road today to increase U.S. energy independence. Source: Custom Environment-Related Tracker commissioned by NASCAR and conducted by Toluna (July 2013).

"This 5 million mile mark is yet another testament to Sunoco Green E15's value as a fuel and a real validator of our product," said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. "You couldn't ask for a tougher testing ground and Sunoco Green E15 stands up to the challenge each weekend and that's good news for everyone who supports renewable fuels."