February 23, 2012:
You’d have to be living in a cave not to be aware of the skyrocketing gas prices these days. Every time there is unrest in the Mideast – the latest being with Iran – the oil speculators immediately drive up the price of crude oil.
Our President only made matters worse when he shot down the proposed Keystone pipeline project from Canada to Texas.
With gas prices already $5.00 per gallon in some areas and still climbing, how is this going to impact your racing in 2012? How will it impact our sluggish economic recovery? – Roger Young
ABC News Report – Gas Prices: Wall Street at Fault?
Western senators ask Justice Department to probe soaring gas prices this year – FoxNews – 27 Nov 12
Roger, How much is regular there?
Butch,
It’s near or slightly over $4 per gallon as we speak here, depending on where you get it.
In California it’s over $5 per gallon and climbing fast!
I can’t speak for Chris or Paul, but these record high prices coming soon are going to have a very negative impact on the economy. As you well know fuel prices impact virtually everything from food prices, shipping costs, etc.
Meanwhile the oil companies continue to gather record profits – virtually every quarter – and neither our President or Congress (either party) will do anything to help the American consumer. I remember when diesel was about 49-cents a gallon when gas was about $1.50. Now diesel is the most expensive of fuels including home heating oil. We all try to conserve but big oil is going to continue to record record profits while our elected officials sit on the hands, rattle their sabers for another war, and head off on their reelection campaigns!
It is $3.65 now here
The ABC video, Gas Prices: Wall Street at Fault?, indicates the speculators make more per gallon of gas – without producing one drop of fuel – then anyone involved in the extraction, refinery, storage or dispensing of fuel. You combine the costs of such speculation along with the federal, state & local taxes and we wonder why the price of gasoline continues to increase putting any economic recovery in peril.
The cost of towing the cars to and from the track has become more of a concern than parts faliure over the last five years or so. Along with the gas prices. We used to tow to Mission a couple of times a year, but it is getting harder amd harder to justify the longer tows now.
Yes, going to Mission was always fun. But getting passports for the entire family to get across the border and the fuel costs make it very expensive these days.
Traveling anywhere is more of a cost than the wear and tear on the cars and entry fees. It cost people I know thousands of dollars in hotels and fuel to go run a divisional in Oregon and Vegas.
I think you will see an increase of racers going to pump gas motors as you can save 2.5x less if you can run on pump gas instead of C-14/C-16 or other race fuel. The major engine builders should really start thinking about this fact as they can make a profit I would think.
Also, it surely does make it much more difficult to foot the bill for races outside of your normal area of commute. The local tracks can make it work to their advantage by making it more enticing for the locals around the tracks to race their, I feel.
Skyrocketing gas prices are caused by a variety of things, including the saber rattling by Iran, but also the civil wars still being waged in the Sudan and Darfur, which control 6% of the oil purchased by China. The humanitarian disaster has been going on there for decades, but no one wants to get involved. Maybe bloated global gas prices will get the world’s attention, because solving Iran’s issues could be tricky, but solving the slaughter and starvation in the Sudan would be far less engaging, since there are only a handful of very bad people in control.
As for the Keystone XL pipeline, that is just a conservative talking point on a long list of anything to blame on the president. He followed the advice of the U.S. State Department, when it recommended more study of the plan and the route. After all, this is tar sand oil that will be transported across our homeland, which is the most toxic, dirty crude there is on record. Most of the jobs conservatives talk about would be Canadian and even if that pipeline went into construction tomorrow, it would be over a decade before it might translate to some relief at our gas pumps.
Any option for racers to run with more fuel efficient engines would help the sport and the environment. NASCAR has even entertained the idea of running electric cars to reduce fuel costs and noise, but the fans were only lukewarm to the idea. It seems that pollution and ear piercing noise are an expected part of the racing ambiance.
Digger, thanks for your comment, but FYI. a racing engine produces little pollution at full power. Many of the modern features in production automobiles have come directly from the manufacturer’s involvment in motorsports over the years including electronic ignition, fuel injection, intake & exhaust manifold design, cylinder heads, camshafts & variable valve timing, etc. which have increased efficiency, increased performance with better mileage ratings. Racing is not all negative to the environment.
Many of the State Dept. environmental concerns regarding the Keystone Pipeline have and are being addressed including rerouting the pipeline to protect our precious water resources. Yet the project for the moment is on hold which HAS impacted domestic fuel prices coupled with events in the Mideast.
In my opinion, part of the President’s decision to put a hold on the pipeline project was to placate some of his environmental supporters. Politics again played a role, but that’s not the purpose of this post, it is about how rising fuel costs will impact racing. And for your information as a Vietnam veteran, our State Dept. doesn’t always work in the best interests of the United States as was too often demonstrated in Laos and Cambodia.
Thanks for the information about modern race cars, but I do wonder how many of the cars racing at local tracks are modified to extract high performance and speed over any fuel efficiency or reduced emissions.
Recent studies over the past decade have shown that high gas prices were expected and will continue, which is why those pesky environmentalists want more energy alternatives, instead of investing in the high cost and risk of extracting more oil. Here is an excerpt from a March 13, 2012 report:
“Oil prices are now higher than they have ever been — except for a few frenzied moments before the global economic meltdown of 2008. Many immediate factors are contributing to this surge, including Iran’s threats to block oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, fears of a new Middle Eastern war, and turmoil in energy-rich Nigeria. Some of these pressures could ease in the months ahead, providing temporary relief at the gas pump. But the principal cause of higher prices — a fundamental shift in the structure of the oil industry — cannot be reversed, and so oil prices are destined to remain high for a long time to come.”
The delay in approving a permit for the Keystone pipeline is only a psychological element and a conservative Obama-bashing tool, when it comes to the reality of what is causing higher gas prices. Keystone doesn’t get mentioned, but Canadian tar sand extraction does:
“The simple truth of the matter is this: most of the world’s easy reserves have already been depleted — except for those in war-torn countries like Iraq. Virtually all of the oil that’s left is contained in harder-to-reach, tougher reserves. These include deep-offshore oil, Arctic oil, and shale oil, along with Canadian “oil sands” — which are not composed of oil at all, but of mud, sand, and tar-like bitumen. So-called unconventional reserves of these types can be exploited, but often at a staggering price, not just in dollars but also in damage to the environment.”
Link to the study is here:
http://www.alternet.org/story/154533/high_gas_prices_are_here_to_stay%3A_why_21st_century_oil_will_break_the_bank_–_and_the_planet_?page=1
Racing will not only continue to be expensive for racers, but also spectators, who travel great distances to see them.
Digger,
Your posts here seem to be more to protect President Obama from ANY responsibility for the recent price spikes and to bash racing and racers for our impact on the environment?
In my initial post the Keystone pipeline was only part of the problem mentioned. My main focus was on oil speculators artificially impacting the price of crude oil on the world market. And the fact this sudden price spike will negatively impact our economic recovery.
Yes, energy alternatives must be found, but many so-called solutions are in the developmental stage and it will be years before practical solutions will replace the internal combustion engine.
Awww, c’mon, Roger. I didn’t bash racing or racers, but I do know that some are more open to opinion over facts and some are more responsible than others on many levels.
I believe that President Obama has taken a bad rap from the GOP and he is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t on just about everything, so of course he is going to get blamed for the rise in gas prices. But when you ask people to explain exactly why he is to blame, they don’t have factual answers, just subjective rhetoric.
One thing we can agree on is that Wall Street speculators play a big role in turning any kind of global unrest into higher prices of oil and gas, but they are only the short term problem. President Obama should and will do something about that and when he does, instead of giving him any credit for it, the GOP will just accuse him of creating bigger government.
So, I will just leave it at that, except to say that even the NHRA and NASCAR realize that if they don’t make environmental adjustments to adapt to a changing world, their industry will go by the way of the dinosaur.
“…So, I will just leave it at that, except to say that even the NHRA and NASCAR realize that if they don’t make environmental adjustments to adapt to a changing world, their industry will go by the way of the dinosaur.”
That’s very true and I’m certain we’ll see the sport evolve in time as it has done in the past. At least it can be said I allow others to post their opinions on our blog.
Here’s another “bad rap from the GOP”
I’ll let our viewers decide the facts for themselves!
The other March Madness — gas prices and the press – FoxNews – 15 March 2012