When the start lights went out on Friday's SCCA SPEED Touring Car race at Sebring International Raceway, Jim Osborn, of Ooltewah, N.J., rocketed away from the starting grid in the world's first biodiesel racecar.
Osborn's team, Chili Pepper Racing, recently announced it would run its No. 24 Volkswagen Jetta on diesel fuel for the entire 2007 SPEED Touring Car season, but the announcement today that the team has successfully made the move to biodiesel, has catapulted them from conscientious racers to world leaders.
Following in the footsteps of Audi's diesel racing success and the adoption of Ethanol by both ALMS and the Indy Racing League, Jim Osborn couldn't have picked a better time or place to lead motorsports into the next generation of energy efficient racing. The SPEED World Challenge is a production-based car series and Osborn's Jetta isn't much different from those on showroom floors across the country. Osborn hopes his performance at the internationally famous Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring event, will inspire consumers everywhere to explore the possibilities of alternative fuels in their own cars.
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