Types of Fuel Uses in IRL

At its beginning, the IRL used methanol racing fuel, which had been the defacto standard in American open wheel racing since the 1964 Indianapolis 500 Eddie Sachs - Dave MacDonald crash. Methanol had long provided a safer substitute to gasoline. It had an upper flash point, was easily extinguishable with water, and burned invisible. With the IRL's beginning of night races in 1997, the burning of methanol fuel was able to be seen for the first time, seen with a light blue haze. With this in mind, in an attempt to make it more visible in case of fire during daylight hours, additional mixtures were placed in the fuel. As a safety feature, the methanol would burn with a color.

Ethanol

In 2005, driver Paul Dana brought the sponsorship of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) to his IndyCar team. EPIC is a group of ethanol producers that advocate the enlarged use of ethanol. EPIC were anxious to address public concerns of that period that ethanol use led to engine break and poor performance when used in street cars. As a marketing effort, it was thought that sponsoring an IndyCar could be used as a tool to promote education and consciousness of ethanol use, and to curb the spread of erroneous information.

Dana was killed in a crash in 2006, but the IRL had by now begun a transition to ethanol. For the 2006 season the fuel was a 90%/10% combination of methanol and ethanol. Starting in 2007, the league advertised "100% Fuel Grade Ethanol," the first competitive series to make use of renewable fuel. The combination was actually of 98% ethanol and 2% gasoline, provided by Lifeline Foods of Saint Joseph, Missouri. The additive satisfies the U.S. government's demand that the alcohol be flabby for human consumption, and adds visible color in case of fire.

To pay off for the loss of power due to the use of ethanol, the displacement was enlarged back to 3.5L. Since ethanol gets better fuel mileage than methanol, the fuel tanks in the car were decreased.

Compared to methanol, human contact with the existing ICS fuel is much less harsh, and the fumes much less annoying. The fumes are often compared with the sugary smell of apple cider or apple cobbler. Unlike methanol, ethanol is not scathing and does not source chemical burns when it comes in contact with the skin. In addition it is less polluting when spilled compared to methanol.