Wayne Gerdes and Carl Edwards usually have different goals when they get behind the wheel. Gerdes holds miles-per-gallon records for several common cars, while Edwards is currently eighth in the NASCAR standings.
But this weekend in Alexandria, they teamed up to help drive an American sedan more than 1,000 miles on a single tank of gas for the first time.
Starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Gerdes and a team of Ford engineers took shifts behind the wheel of a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, traveling up and down the George Washington Parkway around the clock. As of Sunday afternoon, they had collectively traveled 628 miles at an average fuel economy of 80.4 miles per gallon (the car is rated at 41 miles per gallon). Edwards was scheduled to be the one to surpass the 1,000-mile mark early Monday morning, soon after he joins the group.
Being the expert, Gerdes held the top numbers during his shifts, achieving 82.1 miles per gallon. Why is he so passionate about saving gas? Sept. 11, he says. “The day the towers came down was my turnaround,” he told Yeas & Nays. “I discovered where my petrol dollars were going.”
The event benefitted the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
UPDATE: We thought after Edwards was involved in a horrific car crash at Talladega Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon that he might not make it today. Turns out he not only made it, but flew his own plane up here. He also was scheduled to keep meetings with Sens. Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill from Missouri.
