Daytona 500 Racers to Use Recycled Motor Oil

Photo: Cohn & Wolfe

One of NASCAR‘s most popular racing teams, Roush Fenway Racing (RFR), will use recycled motor oil to protect the engines of its stock cars at this year’s Daytona 500 race, the team announced this week.

RFR will switch all its Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams to Valvoline NextGen – a re-refined motor oil containing 50 percent recycled oil base stocks – for the duration of the 2012 NASCAR season, starting in Daytona.

The announcement comes after a rigorous testing process of the NextGen oil, which began last summer with drivers like Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Carl Edwards, Valvoline said. Last season’s Nationwide Series wins from Bayne and Edwards were powered by NextGen, according to the company.

READ: Valvoline Debuts Groundbreaking Re-Refined Oil

“The results of last year’s NextGen motor oil testing spoke volumes about its possibilities from a performance standpoint,” said Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing. “We are confident that this recycled oil product will stand up to the rigors of our engines, and it furthers our sustainability efforts in the process.”

In the past, the problem with re-refined motor oil has been quality. The process used to involve an acid-clay treatment, producing a usable, but low-quality oil. Valvoline, on the other hand, does not use acid-clay treatments to re-refine its oil, leading to a product with the same performance as conventional oil with half the environmental footprint, the company said.

“In some cases, NextGen formulas actually outperformed our non-recycled racing oil,” said Doug Yates, co-owner of Roush Yates Engines and one of the top engine experts in NASCAR. “First and foremost, we are tuned in closely to performance, and there is no sacrifice with NextGen.”

READ: Earth911.com and Valvoline Partner to Recycle Used Motor Oil

Compared to production of non-recycled motor oil, NextGen’s recycled oil content is produced using 48 percent less fossil fuels and 40 percent less harmful and acidic emissions, according to Valvoline. The recycled oil also produces 20 percent less GHG emissions, the company said.

Want a dose of NASCAR glory under your own hood? NextGen is available in conventional and MaxLife formulations wherever Valvoline products are sold, as well as your local Valvoline Instant Oil Center.

And don’t forget to dispose of your oil properly! Just one gallon of improperly disposed motor oil can contaminate up to 1 million gallons of fresh water, according to Valvoline. So, use Earth911′s recycling database to find a solution near you. Or bring your used oil to any Advance Auto Parts, O’Reilly Auto Parts or Pep Boys location and receive a $20 gift card from Valvoline for “Closing the Loop” on your oil use.