“I’d rather be lucky than good!"
That’s what Austin Dillon radioed to his team after a miraculous Xfinity Series win in March of 2016. The #3 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet was one of the few cars with enough fuel for the last lap and barely slipped past Kyle Bush’s wounded #18 to take the checkered flag.
At that time, Austin would have called it luck.
Fast forward to August 9, 2022, and the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona. Due to a day and a half of rain delays, the race was running on a Sunday morning, like in the early years of NASCAR.
Daytona Speedway is known for “The Big One” — the kind of wreck that makes or breaks cars and careers. The #3 RCR Chevrolet Team was no stranger to a battle royale at Daytona. “The Big One” has brought both tragedy and triumph to the team over the years, and this time it was looming as large as ever.
The morning race was winding down, and it looked as though a big wreck might be avoidable on this blue-skied Sunday. Then, on a late restart, unexpected rain snuck in on turn two, creating an ice rink on the majority of the track.
That’s when disaster struck. Most cars went spinning, crashing, and flying in all directions. Only one car made it through the onslaught unscathed: the #3 RCR Chevrolet.
After a long caution following the melee, a strong restart ensued. With the help of his teammate, Austin Dillon punched his ticket to the 2022 NASCAR playoffs at the latest possible opportunity. This was Austin’s second win at Daytona, more than Cup Champions Kyle Bush, Brad Keselowski, and Joey Logano.
The Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Austin and his team had prepared for this moment throughout the 28 previous races of the year, and the opportunity finally made an appearance. Both RCR cars made the playoffs; unfortunately, they were both taken out a few races later in the same manner the #3 team made it in.
The #3 team and the Get Biofuel team share a drive to win. The #3 team’s drive to win on the track keeps them motivated to continue pushing forward, while the Get Biofuel team’s drive transfers to pushing positive legislation forward on behalf of biofuels.
From Last Lap to Legislative Gridiron
Just like a NASCAR victory, all great legislative wins require hard work, patience, and persistence.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is creating some great opportunities for biofuels. Future incentives will establish a clear path forward for innovation, investment, and growth. For sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the sky is quite literally the limit. Our industry is poised to seize the opportunity by producing enough SAF to achieve our nation’s carbon reduction goals.
The IRA also increases the value of the carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects our bioprocessing facilities are currently working on and will bring more certainty to investments. We haven’t seen a legislative opportunity like this in years.
Just like the #3 team put itself in a position to win on the track through preparatory diligence and hard work, we have fought tooth and nail for decades to put biofuels in a position to win on the policy front.
We’ve done the work, and we’ll achieve victory — not with luck, but by working as a team and harnessing every opportunity.
