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02-16-2009, 04:45 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg Carl Edwards is finding that the key to his first Sprint Cup title may be the same thing the auto industry is eyeing: fuel economy. (sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3897918)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_FFH_-_NASCAR_Pace_car.jpgRyan McGee - ESPN - Feb. 13, 2009
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid pace car – 41 mpgUS combined on the 08 EPA.
We have a NASCAR Hypermiler in our midst :D -- Ed.
Carl Edwards grips the steering wheel of his Ford Fusion and suddenly feels the pressure of the moment. Here, on the grounds of Lowe's Motor Speedway, his driving skills are being scrutinized like never before in his five-year Sprint Cup career. All eyes are on him: an onboard TV camera, the lens of a still photographer, the constant gaze of crew chief Bob Osborne. As Edwards leans into the throttle, an Obi Wan-like voice whispers into his ear, hoping to help the 2008 Cup runner-up find a way to maximize his performance.
"Okay, Carl … that's too fast."
"I'm doing 20 … "
"Trust me, that's too fast at this point."
Edwards rolls his eyes and lifts his right foot. Jack Martin can't suppress a cackle.
"I love telling a race car driver to slow down," says Martin, who holds a doctorate in technology education and resource management. "Don't worry, buddy, when you win the championship this year, I plan on taking all the credit. Deal?"
"Yeah, deal," Edwards says with a smile … then mats the gas pedal and launches the Ford into a left-hand turn that throws his passenger against the door frame...
Martin is also a rising motorsports star—in hypermiling. His goal is to squeeze the best fuel efficiency out of his automobile during timed, rally-style road races. Martin, who teaches sustainable transportation classes at Appalachian State, won the 150-mile Tour to the Shore competition last June by extracting a mind-bending 124.6 mpg from his Honda Insight Hybrid on New Jersey's highways. The previous record was 75 mpg. (Edwards' Sprint Cup ride is slightly less efficient, at 4.5 mpg.)
With Daytona just weeks away, Edwards is eager to gain an advantage any way he can. In this case that means taking his personal car, also a Ford Fusion, for a spin on the roads between Lowe's and Roush Fenway Racing and handing the keys to "the slowest dude I have ever ridden with in my life." Edwards pulls over and switches seats with Martin. "In our defense, efficiency isn't typically our job," the star says, watching the in-dash mpg indicator climb higher and higher as Martin preaches about the realities of drafting behind 18-wheelers (side drafts are better—and safer—than tucking in directly behind).
"Our job is to go as fast as possible. And that means whatever Jack does is usually the total opposite of what we do."
He's not exaggerating. Martin begs drivers to keep tires pumped to the highest recommended psi, while Cup cars leave Pit Road on tires that are nearly flat to maximize the size of the "contact patch" that grips the track.
Hypermilers keep speeds down, accelerate and brake gently, coast on straights and use the throttle entering turns to maximize the coasts that follow. "Do that on the track, and watch everyone fly past you," Edwards says.
A delivery van blows by with a honk of the horn. "There it is, our first bird-flip of the afternoon," Martin says. "He thinks we're holding him up by going the speed limit. But we'll be right next to him at the next red light, and if we were both headed to the same destination 100 miles from here, I guarantee we'd arrive at the same time and I would have spent zero dollars on fuel and he would have filled up."
But his bull-rush rep belies an even more impressive ability to produce mpg when needed. "We won three races last year on fuel mileage, two of them in the Chase," Osborne says. "Pocono, Texas, Homestead—all three times, we asked Carl to squeeze more mileage out of his race car than he should be able to. And he did it." ...
"One of the things I love about hypermiling is how it's judged: your mileage divided by the EPA's fuel-economy rating for your vehicle," Martin explains. "A guy in a Hummer might beat you because he found a way to increase his efficiency by 80%. Sounds like Carl should be competing with us." ...
Martin pulls into the parking lot at Roush Fenway, and the two champions laugh about the fact that Martin's turn behind the wheel kept the Ford's mpg gauge pegged at its limit of 60 mpg, while Edwards kept it hovering somewhere around 10. No wonder Edwards is contemplating having Martin ride with his motor-coach driver to improve the efficiency of his home away from home... http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3897918
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_FFH_-_NASCAR_Pace_car.jpgRyan McGee - ESPN - Feb. 13, 2009
2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid pace car – 41 mpgUS combined on the 08 EPA.
We have a NASCAR Hypermiler in our midst :D -- Ed.
Carl Edwards grips the steering wheel of his Ford Fusion and suddenly feels the pressure of the moment. Here, on the grounds of Lowe's Motor Speedway, his driving skills are being scrutinized like never before in his five-year Sprint Cup career. All eyes are on him: an onboard TV camera, the lens of a still photographer, the constant gaze of crew chief Bob Osborne. As Edwards leans into the throttle, an Obi Wan-like voice whispers into his ear, hoping to help the 2008 Cup runner-up find a way to maximize his performance.
"Okay, Carl … that's too fast."
"I'm doing 20 … "
"Trust me, that's too fast at this point."
Edwards rolls his eyes and lifts his right foot. Jack Martin can't suppress a cackle.
"I love telling a race car driver to slow down," says Martin, who holds a doctorate in technology education and resource management. "Don't worry, buddy, when you win the championship this year, I plan on taking all the credit. Deal?"
"Yeah, deal," Edwards says with a smile … then mats the gas pedal and launches the Ford into a left-hand turn that throws his passenger against the door frame...
Martin is also a rising motorsports star—in hypermiling. His goal is to squeeze the best fuel efficiency out of his automobile during timed, rally-style road races. Martin, who teaches sustainable transportation classes at Appalachian State, won the 150-mile Tour to the Shore competition last June by extracting a mind-bending 124.6 mpg from his Honda Insight Hybrid on New Jersey's highways. The previous record was 75 mpg. (Edwards' Sprint Cup ride is slightly less efficient, at 4.5 mpg.)
With Daytona just weeks away, Edwards is eager to gain an advantage any way he can. In this case that means taking his personal car, also a Ford Fusion, for a spin on the roads between Lowe's and Roush Fenway Racing and handing the keys to "the slowest dude I have ever ridden with in my life." Edwards pulls over and switches seats with Martin. "In our defense, efficiency isn't typically our job," the star says, watching the in-dash mpg indicator climb higher and higher as Martin preaches about the realities of drafting behind 18-wheelers (side drafts are better—and safer—than tucking in directly behind).
"Our job is to go as fast as possible. And that means whatever Jack does is usually the total opposite of what we do."
He's not exaggerating. Martin begs drivers to keep tires pumped to the highest recommended psi, while Cup cars leave Pit Road on tires that are nearly flat to maximize the size of the "contact patch" that grips the track.
Hypermilers keep speeds down, accelerate and brake gently, coast on straights and use the throttle entering turns to maximize the coasts that follow. "Do that on the track, and watch everyone fly past you," Edwards says.
A delivery van blows by with a honk of the horn. "There it is, our first bird-flip of the afternoon," Martin says. "He thinks we're holding him up by going the speed limit. But we'll be right next to him at the next red light, and if we were both headed to the same destination 100 miles from here, I guarantee we'd arrive at the same time and I would have spent zero dollars on fuel and he would have filled up."
But his bull-rush rep belies an even more impressive ability to produce mpg when needed. "We won three races last year on fuel mileage, two of them in the Chase," Osborne says. "Pocono, Texas, Homestead—all three times, we asked Carl to squeeze more mileage out of his race car than he should be able to. And he did it." ...
"One of the things I love about hypermiling is how it's judged: your mileage divided by the EPA's fuel-economy rating for your vehicle," Martin explains. "A guy in a Hummer might beat you because he found a way to increase his efficiency by 80%. Sounds like Carl should be competing with us." ...
Martin pulls into the parking lot at Roush Fenway, and the two champions laugh about the fact that Martin's turn behind the wheel kept the Ford's mpg gauge pegged at its limit of 60 mpg, while Edwards kept it hovering somewhere around 10. No wonder Edwards is contemplating having Martin ride with his motor-coach driver to improve the efficiency of his home away from home... http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3897918