The engines roar. The grandstands shake. The green flag waves over the Great American Race.
The Daytona 500 is a tradition like no other — but this year, something new is in the tank.
For the first time in any internal combustion engine, NASCAR is being powered by zero lifecycle carbon bioethanol produced by POET, the league’s first Official Bioethanol Partner.
This fuel of the future isn’t just a concept. It’s not a pipe dream or a pilot project.
Zero-carbon bioethanol is here today, and it’s being produced commercially at POET bioprocessing facilities across the U.S.
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Zero carbon. Full throttle.
Over the past 15 years, NASCAR racecars have driven over 25 million miles on E15, a 15% bioethanol blend. While the fuel blend itself hasn’t changed, the difference is in the carbon score. The average bioethanol blended in consumer fuel is 50% lower carbon intensity (CI) than traditional gasoline; POET’s zero-carbon bioethanol is 100% lower.
Made entirely from American-grown grain, POET’s zero-carbon bioethanol is cleaner-burning, higher-octane alternative to traditional gasoline with zero lifecycle carbon emissions. Using Argonne National Laboratory’s GREET model, CI is calculated by examining the full lifecycle of bioethanol and assigning a score to the emissions at each step. The lower the total, the lower the carbon intensity.
By combining regenerative ag practices with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) and advanced biotechnology, POET’s bioethanol achieves zero and beyond; in fact, some bioethanol achieves a CI score as low as -14.
In other words, this fuel still provides the high-octane power and maximum performance elite racing demands — now with zero carbon intensity.
“POET is thrilled to announce this historic partnership with NASCAR and introduce zero-carbon liquid fuel to the world,” said Jeff Broin, POET Founder and CEO. “This truly changes the game — not just for racing, but for the future
of energy.”
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Built for speed. Proven under pressure.
In racing, there’s nowhere to hide. Fuel must deliver superior performance for every lap, every restart, and every victory.
“Obviously, when it comes to our race fuel, it starts and stops with superior performance in our competition product,” said Eric Nyquist, Chief IMPACT officer at NASCAR. “The innovation and technology POET is bringing forward allows us to push the bounds of technology around how we operate efficiently and what we use to power our vehicles.”
Bioethanol’s natural high-octane properties enhance engine performance while contributing to cleaner combustion and fewer toxic emissions — benefits that support a healthier environment for every driver, crew member, and fan at the track. It also represents a home fuel advantage, pairing a great American sport with energy produced by American farmers and manufacturers.
It’s real-time innovation on one of the most iconic proving grounds in motorsports.
And if bioethanol can perform exceptionally under the extreme conditions of NASCAR competition — at 200 miles per hour, inches from the wall — drivers everywhere can trust it in their own tanks.
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From field to finish line
But zero-carbon bioethanol doesn’t begin at the racetrack, or even at the plant.
It begins at the farm.
POET sources grain from more than 30,000 farmers at its 35 bioprocessing facilities across rural America. Many are implementing regenerative farming practices, including reduced or no tillage, organic fertilizers, crop rotation, and precision nutrient application. These strategies lower carbon intensity while strengthening the land for the next generation.
It’s a quiet ag revolution happening one acre at a time.
Phil Ramsey, a fourth-generation Indiana farmer, has seen the transformation firsthand on his land.
Producing zero-carbon bioethanol, he explains, means growing corn “with the lowest possible carbon footprint, both in production of the corn and the production of bioethanol, and using responsible practices throughout the year to retain as much carbon as possible in the soil.”
Technology has changed everything.
“We’re using GPS in virtually everything that we do,” Ramsey said. “We’re able to place fertilizer exactly where it needs to be. It’s a world of difference between when I was a kid and today.”
It means less fuel, fewer passes across the field, and fewer disturbances to the soil. And that matters — not just environmentally, but economically.
“Bioethanol has been somewhat of a savior to the corn market,” Ramsey said. “We’re producing a good product, but we need somebody to buy it. It’s nice that we can be our own customers.”
American energy. American jobs. American grit.
Bioethanol was born out of surplus grain, tough times for farmers, and a desire for energy independence. Today, it supports five billion bushels of corn demand and thousands of jobs across rural America.
“This whole industry was born out of a need for ag markets and domestic energy,” Broin said. “Over the past four decades, it has truly transformed the Midwest economy and the entire country, while also putting an American-made fuel in the gas tank.”
From 1 billion gallons to 16 billion gallons of annual production capacity nationwide, bioethanol has reshaped the energy landscape. Now, zero-carbon bioethanol can drive it even further.
It proves something powerful: ag-based bioenergy solutions are not only possible — they’re essential.
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Racing toward what’s next
For NASCAR, this partnership is more than a sponsorship. It’s a signal to the world.
“We have a responsibility to lead with innovation,” Nyquist said. “If we can enhance performance while also making meaningful progress in how we power our sport, that’s a win for racing, our fans, and the future.”
By adopting zero-carbon bioethanol, NASCAR becomes the first major motorsports series to take this step, demonstrating that performance and progress are not mutually exclusive. Speed and sustainability can coexist. Power and responsible stewardship can run in the same lane. This is bigger than one race or one season.
POET is producing zero-carbon bioethanol at a commercial scale today, and as regenerative ag practices expand and market demand grows, that volume will grow with it.
From the precision of a GPS-guided planter to the veracity of a pit stop. From the quiet of a crop taking root to the thunder of engines at full throttle — it’s all connected.
When the green flag waves this season, fans will see horsepower, strategy, and split-second decisions. What they may not see is the humble cornstalk swaying in the breeze, the tens of thousands of farmers harvesting their grain, or the cutting-edge biotech innovations in the lab.
But they’ll hear it in the roar of the engines and the cheers on victory lane, every lap powered by a better fuel for a better future.
Beat that.
