Toyota Life Articles

Since the dawn of motorsports, races have been won, and lost, on fuel mileage. In this era of increasing uncertainty about energy supplies and prices, all drivers are starting to become more open to suggestions on how to use less gas, not just the ones who spend their weekends driving inches away from one another at 200 mph. With that in mind, Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, discusses some of the techniques he uses to keep from running the tank dry before the checkered flag falls.

"The main thing is to keep the butterflies of the carburetor closed as much as you can," he says. "Just lifting out of the gas earlier getting in the corner, and squeezing it a little bit more gently getting off the corners can save me quite a bit of fuel."

"And I can save even more during caution flags, where I can creep around the track in high gear or even shut the car off for a lot of the lap. Then I just start it back up when I need to and then let it coast again, over and over as necessary."

But even though it's possible to save enough fuel to go many laps farther than the competition on a tank of fuel depending on the track and how hard you are pushing the car, there is a limit to how much the driver can do. "If I've still got to run a certain pace to keep up with everyone else there's not a whole lot I can do," Blaney says.

All things considered, though, being even a little bit less aggressive with the accelerator pedal will save you some fuel, no matter what or where you drive - or how fast you need to be - and that could get you into Victory Lane. As three-time Formula 1 champion Jackie Stewart once said, "It doesn't matter how fast you win, or if your lead is 30 secs. The best way to win is at the slowest possible speed. You still get the same number of points."