N/A
Roush Fenway Racing announced Thursday it has been certified as the first carbon-neutral NASCAR organization based on an independent review of its 2020 environmental outputs.
Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press reported the PAS 2060 certification, which was confirmed by ERM Certification and Verification Services, will be celebrated by RFR during Sunday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 on the Daytona International Speedway road course with a dedicated paint scheme on Ryan Newman's car.
Roush Fenway provided a look at Newman's car for Sunday's race:
The certification is based on the entire organization, from standard operations to its two NASCAR Cup Series cars. Along with Newman, it also races the No. 17 Ford driven by Chris Buescher.
RFR president Steve Newmark said they're trying to show an example that even in a profession like NASCAR, where burning fuel is an essential part of the job, it's possible to lessen your carbon output, per Fryer.
"We've spent months tracking, quantifying, measuring our existing carbon footprint and ways to reduce our carbon footprint," Newmark said. "There's no doubt that we have unavoidable carbon emissions in how we operate our business. When you race cars and travel around the country to do so, that will inevitably be part of our operations."
The effort included everything from recycling 90 percent of every race car that was no longer in use to capturing rainwater for landscape irrigation at its North Carolina facilities. The company's non-racing cars were also transitioned to electric or hybrid vehicles.
Newman, a 43-year-old who has been racing in the Cup Series since 2000, said:
"We as a society have to take notice to make an impact. I've never been one to pride myself in driving around an electric vehicle but the reality is that makes a big impact. I'm a V8 [engine] guy with the rumble and a hot rod sounds good, looks good, and take the kids for ice cream in it—that's me, right? The reality is that comes with a cost to our environment and I'm aware of that more so than ever. There are things that we can all be doing better."
He added the overall message is being "smarter" in order to limit the impact on climate change.
Sunday's race will mark just the second use of the Daytona road course for the Cup Series, which added it to the schedule last year to ease travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
