The New NASCAR

When I lived in England, I got what many would consider the dream assignment from the CBC. I was sent to a racetrack called Silverstone to cover what was then known as Formula II auto racing. Formula II was one step down from Formula I.

I arrived at the track the day before race day to the sound of motors screeching around the course. They never let up all the time I was there. Race day was even worse. Every car was out on the track, squeezing ever ounce of energy out of its body, screaming all the way.

Those two days, followed by days of my ears ringing, strongly confirmed what I had suspected long before. I hate auto racing with a passion.

When I watch it on television, I have no idea what is going on. Once in awhile there is a crash. Often people scramble around madly to change tires and add fuel. Aside from this, I am just watching cars go around in a circle. I honestly think you could take the same footage from one year, edit it a bit differently, add a new commentary and nobody would know the difference. It would certainly save a lot of money and fuel.

The amount of fuel that is used bothers me. So does the amount of advertising you see everywhere. It’s on the cars, the driving suit, and the hats. It assaults you from every angle.

There is an argument that some may make that is a valid one. The fact that people raced cars from pretty much the moment they were invented has led to important advances in the technology. In the early days, something going 60 km an hour was considered foolhardy. These days much time and money is being spent on making the engines more fuel-efficient and the bodies more aerodynamic.

But I have a better idea. Why don’t we start a NASCAR circuit that is based on solar power? There are cross-country races based on solar vehicles, but this usually amounts to a few university students rising to the challenge. Let’s get the heavy hitters out there. Why can’t Ferrari, Honda, Porsche and others get into the game and start pushing the envelope on speed and efficiency produced with alternate energy?

My guess is that the competitive spirit would take over and it wouldn’t take long to produce vehicles that would be efficient and cheap to run. It would wean us off our need for petroleum. The advances in energy production for cars could be passed on to other needs.

And once there is no need for oil, then what happens to nations like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates? People often say that the war in Iraq has a lot to do with oil. Won’t taking away the need for this precious liquid take away conflict?

And there will be one other good reason I just might like this new form of NASCAR. It will be quiet, that is until sponsors realize they can use the silence to have cars play audio versions of their commercials as they pass by the crowd.