Washington is playing host this week to National Corn Growers Association Corn Congress where they will elect five farmers to serve on the organization’s Corn Board. Taking office in fiscal year 2012, the leaders selected will help shape the policies that guide the organization and will best serve corn farmers across the United States.
OK right about now you are saying:”I like corn as much as the next person but why is Williams covering the Corn Congress when he lives in a condo and has an herb garden on his balcony?” Well that is indeed a fair question so the real reason I am writing this column is because the farmers in town have a very big stake in NASCAR and the fuel that runs in the cars.
It should be of interest that 95% of the farms in this country are family run not run by big corporations.
This year NASCAR launched a new, greener fuel, the nation’s corn growers have joined forces with NASCAR to promote the use of corn-based American ethanol. As an Official Partner of NASCAR, The National Corn Growers Association will leverage its relationship to spread the message to NASCAR fans around the country about the role American farmers play in the development of ethanol. Sunoco Green E15, a new 15 percent ethanol blend fuel made with corn grown in the United States is now running in all of the cars you see each week running in Sprint Cup Series.
I spoke yesterday with the man who will be addressing the Corn Congress Rick Tolman, CEO of the National Corn Growers Association.
JW: How has the relationship between the corn growers and NASCAR gone thus far?
Tolman:”We could not be more pleased with our partnership with NASCAR. We have seen a great deal of wonderful cooperation from the executives, to the drivers and to the race teams. We went with NASCAR because they have the same values that we do. They want to see America produce a fuel that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Their fans are getting that message each week as the races are seen by the millions on FOX, ESPN, TNT, and Speed. “
JW: The relationship aside. The bottom-line is how do the drivers and most of all the race teams like the Sunoco Green E15?
Tolman:”One of biggest hurdles is to get mechanics on board with the E-15 and higher blends of ethanol. So the risk was how would the guys in NASCAR who are not going to sacrifice anything that might ruin their million dollar investments in their cars react to the fuel. We were pleased that the race teams love the fuel, feel that they get better gas mileage it is actually better on their engines than regular fuel. They also share in our pride that it is helping create jobs and that makes whole relationship even more special.”
TNT will air their final race this weekend from Loudon, New Hampshire starting Sunday at 1pm. Next week the races move over to ESPN for the rest of the NASCAR season. TNT reported that ratings for NASCAR on their network are up over 7% over last season. That is in line with the almost 10% increase in viewership that FOX got for their segment of the Sprint Cup series.
