Just how dirty can ethanol get? Quite, if you're at a Wissota dirt track

More support for ethanol in the Midwest? Check.
Racing vehicles getting enhanced performance from the biofuel? Check.
Another story on the Indy 500? Nope.

This time 'round, the ethanol-powered vehicles in question are the dirty types, the Midwest Modified class racers (see a picture after the jump), and they've been using ethanol blends since 2004. Today marks the first of four days of Governor's Ethanol Challenge events in Minnesota that are "loud, local and promoting an alternative fuel grown, produced and sold in Minnesota."

Chad Willis, a member of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, said in a statement that, "This annual event means a lot to local racetracks, the communities and to the Midwest Modified racers who have embraced this renewable fuel. ... The racers often tell me they prefer using ethanol because it has high octane, burns cooler and allows them to use smaller engines and get the same horsepower."

See the pic and the schedule after the jump.

[Source: American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest, thanks to Rob M.]

Governor's Ethanol Challenge races 2007:

July 10 in Alexandria
July 11 in Madison
July 12 in Willmar
July 13 in Montevideo

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