# How much gas is consumed by auto racing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990 "2008-09-17T16:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/1 "2008-09-17T16:18:59Z")
How much is the “sport” of auto racing hastening our impending doom when the oil runs out? Is the consumption of gasoline and other petroleum products just a drop in the bucket, or are we talking about significant amounts by the time you add up the fuel spent on practice runs, transportation to the races, and the races themselves? Let’s ignore the gas used by fans driving to the races, under the assumption they’d probably find some other place to drive. ---
**Author:** ![TNWPsycho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/47e85d/32.png) [@TNWPsycho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TNWPsycho)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/2 "2008-09-17T16:26:29Z")
I cant speak for other racing circuits, but i know the fuel used in Nascar is mainly alcohol…so i dont think there is too much actual gas consumed. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/3 "2008-09-17T16:29:28Z")
> [@TNWPsycho](#): > > I cant speak for other racing circuits, but i know the fuel used in Nascar is mainly alcohol…so i dont think there is too much actual gas consumed. Nope. NASCAR uses [unleaded gasoline](http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/01/20/nascar.fuel/index.html). > [@](#): > > NASCAR uses special Sunoco 260 GTX fuel. Without getting into the chemistry, the fuel is as pure as the driven snow: no additives, alcohols, oxygenates, nitrobenzene, tetraethyl, etc. It’s not street legal, it’s about 98 octane, and it comes from a region with which we are at war. > > It averages $6.75 per gallon. In a 500-mile race, each NASCAR vehicle would require about 143 gallons of this elixir. If 43 drivers qualify, that’s 6,149 gallons, or nearly $42,000 in fuel. > > Luckily for NASCAR and its drivers, they don’t pay the gas bill. Sunoco provides all the fuel free, not only for the race itself but also for qualifying runs and sanctioned testing. Source: [Xoilac TV chính thức - Trực tiếp bóng đá Xoilac HD - BLV Roy](http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2008/07/03/SPORTSDOC-0727.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/4 "2008-09-17T16:32:31Z")
NASCAR uses about 300,000 gallons/year according to most sources you can dig up. That would be in the actual races. Compared to overall usage, it’s not worth worrying about, except maybe for symbolic value. Some forms of auto racing don’t use gasoline - Indy racers traditionally used methanol, and have switched to ethanol in the last couple years (98% ethanol, 2% gasoline). ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/5 "2008-09-17T16:32:36Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Nope. NASCAR uses [unleaded gasoline](http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/01/20/nascar.fuel/index.html). That article doesn’t say anything at all about gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/6 "2008-09-17T16:32:56Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > How much is the “sport” of auto racing hastening our impending doom when the oil runs out? Is the consumption of gasoline and other petroleum products just a drop in the bucket, or are we talking about significant amounts by the time you add up the fuel spent on practice runs, transportation to the races, and the races themselves? > > Let’s ignore the gas used by fans driving to the races, under the assumption they’d probably find some other place to drive. Open-wheeled racing in the US uses 98% ethanol, so hardly any gasoline consumption there. NASCAR and Formula 1 both use (relatively) standard (though 110+ octane) unleaded gasoline. A typical NASCAR race consumes about 5,000 gallons in all, according to [this story](http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=9300), not including practice and qualifying. The “Car of Tomorrow” averages about 3.5 mpg. That 5,000 gallon figure- say, 10,000 for a full race weekend- is pretty inconsequential when you consider that 100,000 fans is the low end of the attendance scale. Of course, they all drive to the race, and if we assume that they carpool in average groups of 5 (which they don’t), and that each vehicle travels 50 miles to the race (which would be a low estimate), the fans use 40,000 gallons of fuel just getting _to_ the race. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/7 "2008-09-17T16:40:18Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > That article doesn’t say anything at all about gasoline. [This one](http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?series=2&id=3046368) is better: > [@](#): > > NASCAR officials, being the stuffed shirts that they are, specify in their rule book that their fuel must be “automotive gasoline” and “limited to liquid hydrocarbons only”. That eliminates our using exotic words such as ethanol, methanol, ether and a whole myriad of other “oxygenates” ending with “oxide” in our description of NASCAR fuels because they are forbidden as are octane boosters and other methods possibly available to the teams to raise the potency levels of the fuels. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/8 "2008-09-17T16:48:16Z")
Formula one doesn’t allow doesn’t allow additives not found in commercial gasoline, either, so NASCAR’s outlook isn’t exactly unique. Somebody else can dig up how much fuel is used by Formula One racing. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/9 "2008-09-17T17:06:53Z")
_It averages $6.75 per gallon._ And I thought when I bought gas in Canada last month that I was paying a chunk ‘o’ change:eek: ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/10 "2008-09-17T17:35:54Z")
We did this once before, about NASCAR specifically. I provided an answer I didn’t care to recalculate or re-type, so I’ll link to it here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7145955&postcount=15](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7145955&postcount=15) In short, the impact of auto racing is negligibly small. Mostly because the number of everyday cars dwarfs the number of race cars by many orders of magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/11 "2008-09-17T19:01:37Z")
> [@BaneSidhe](#): > > _It averages $6.75 per gallon._ > > And I thought when I bought gas in Canada last month that I was paying a chunk ‘o’ change:eek: Remember, that this is not “your father’s gasoline.” This is a special formula, made for the various NASCAR touring series. There is “race fuel” available at some specialty stations (usually near race tracks) that is significantly more expensive than your standard 93 Octane (premium), and usually is in the 104-105 octane range. A couple of years ago, when Premium gas was in the $2.50 range, a friend of mine was paying $4.50 or so for it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/12 "2008-09-17T19:19:38Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > Remember, that this is not “your father’s gasoline.” This is a special formula, made for the various NASCAR touring series. There is “race fuel” available at some specialty stations (usually near race tracks) that is significantly more expensive than your standard 93 Octane (premium), and usually is in the 104-105 octane range. A couple of years ago, when Premium gas was in the $2.50 range, a friend of mine was paying $4.50 or so for it. What good does “race fuel” do a standard passenger car? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/13 "2008-09-17T19:27:29Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > How much is the “sport” of auto racing hastening our impending doom when the oil runs out? Not exactly an answer to the question but on this weeks Top Gear (that is the one they showed here in the US, which actually from like 2005 or something) they mention the kind of MPG they get on their test tracks. They said they regularly get under 5 MPG! These are not racing cars (but usually high performance road cars), and they do rag the bejesus out of them. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/14 "2008-09-17T19:28:57Z")
> [@](#): > > What good does “race fuel” do a standard passenger car? > Reply With Quote None. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/15 "2008-09-17T19:36:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > What good does “race fuel” do a standard passenger car? Presumably, **butler** ’s friend raced cars. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/16 "2008-09-17T19:49:27Z")
Gas is not ever going to run out. It may get to be more expensive but you can make it from lots of things. Coal is one and the U.S. has so much coal that it might as well be considered infinite unless you like to postulate what will happen 1000 years from now. This has no effect on NASCAR especially when a small sticker on the car may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Who cares if they spend $10 a gallon on gas. ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/17 "2008-09-17T22:29:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > NASCAR and Formula 1 both use (relatively) standard (though 110+ octane) unleaded gasoline. How can you have gasoline over 100 octane without oxygenates? Thanks, Rob ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/18 "2008-09-17T22:46:57Z")
Toluene? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/19 "2008-09-17T23:31:13Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Not exactly an answer to the question but on this weeks Top Gear (that is the one they showed here in the US, which actually from like 2005 or something) they mention the kind of MPG they get on their test tracks. They said they regularly get under 5 MPG! These are not racing cars (but usually high performance road cars), and they do rag the bejesus out of them. As I have mentioned before, I drive my street car (Nissan 350Z) on race tracks (road courses, not NASCAR-style ovals), and it is normal under those conditions – running near the redline for extended periods – to see drops in fuel mileage of 50% or more. My 3500cc engine gets about 18 mpg in ordinary city driving, and up to 25 on the highway, but on track I usually get 8-10 mpg. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > …especially when a small sticker on the car may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Who cares if they spend $10 a gallon on gas. Sorry, although I know a little about racing, I don’t know what you mean by this. What stickers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars? Are you referring to sponsors who pay large sums to put their stickers on the cars? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990/20 "2008-09-17T23:35:11Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#): > > How can you have gasoline over 100 octane without oxygenates? > > Thanks, > Rob It’s just a comparison to a hypothetical iso-octane heptane mix. The scale can be extrapolated past 100. > [@](#): > > Because some fuels are more knock-resistant than iso-octane, the definition has been extended to allow for octane numbers higher than 100…An 87-octane gasoline, for example, possesses the same anti-knock rating of a mixture of 87% (by volume) iso-octane and 13% (by volume) n-heptane. This does not mean, however, that the gasoline actually contains these hydrocarbons in these proportions. It simply means that it has the same detonation resistance as the described mixture. > **[Octane rating](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating)** > > An octane rating, or octane number, is a standard measure of a fuel's ability to withstand compression in an internal combustion engine without causing engine knocking. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before auto-igniting. The term refers to the equivalent ratio of a blend of iso-octane and heptane that produces the same knocking characteristics. Octane rating does not relate directly to the power output or the energy content of the fuel per unit mass or ... [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-gas-is-consumed-by-auto-racing/463990.md?page=2)