I want to tell you something else today that is ever increasingly important to the industry of NASCAR and that's our comprehensive approach to making this sport greener and environmentally smarter.
What that means is that we want to do our part to be a better partner with the environment.
And that's not only important to NASCAR but it's really important to our fans and they've told us that not only are they concerned about preserving the environment for the outdoors, but they're also concerned about high fuel cost, global warming and energy independence.
We recognize this must be one of our priorities moving forward.
Last June I chaired an internal committee meeting with former vice president Al Gore in conjunction with the event at Infineon Raceway. In that meeting, we discussed ideas for what we can do as an industry to be greener.
One of the recommendations was to have a point person to coordinate with the industry.
As a result, NASCAR has hired Mike Lynch as managing director for green innovation. Mike's responsible for planning and executing a comprehensive industry-wide green initiative.
He comes to NASCAR with nearly 20 years of experience in strategic planning and working with major companies on "breakthrough technologies." Mike is in the process of developing an industry-wide, multi-discipline strategic green Initiative to include all NASCAR departments, drivers, teams and tracks.
Mike will work with the entire industry to identify best green practices among facilities, transportation and operations.
It's important to know we embark on this strategy with significant efforts already underway.
Track operators such as International Speedway Corporation and Speedway Motorsports Inc. work diligently on the issue of recycling.
And NASCAR partners such as Goodyear, Safety Kleen and Waste Management -- leaders in their respective industries and environmental ambassadors in their own right -- are setting benchmarks for dedication to keeping NASCAR green.
Because we sure as hell ain't feeling any "global warming" up here.
