Snyder, Stabenow tout state’s industries at Pure Michigan 400

The governor of Michigan, a U.S. senator and the U.S. secretary of agriculture touted Michigan’s industries Sunday morning at the Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway.

Gov. Rick Snyder proclaimed August to be Michigan Motorsports Month and talked about Michigan tourism. He also promoted the effort to build a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

Later, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack toured a NASCAR crew’s transport truck and talked about Michigan’s role in the biofuels industry. NASCAR is now using American-grown biofuels to power all of its race vehicles.

Stabenow said Michigan is a good location for NASCAR.

“We know how to build the cars and we know how to grow the fuel,” Stabenow said.

Snyder spoke at a 9:30 a.m. press conference in the MIS media center. He was joined on stage by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, Michigan Economic Development Corp. president Michael Finney and MIS president Roger Curtis. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley also came for the day.

“Today’s a Pure Michigan day,” Snyder said.

Snyder noted that in addition to Sunday’s race, this weekend also saw the annual Woodward Dream Cruise classic car event in Detroit.

Snyder was asked if there are concrete plans to stimulate the racing industry in Michigan, in light of challenges such as lower attendance at MIS and the loss of the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.

“I think you’re seeing some of that today,” Snyder said, referring to the MEDC’s sponsorship of the race under the banner of the state’s Pure Michigan tourism campaign.

He also said more and better jobs will boost the auto racing industry.

“It’s about getting our economy working in a positive way,” he said.

Curtis said that while attendance is down at the track, “it’s still going to be a very big crowd by any standard.”

“It’s going to take a while to get out of this,” Curtis said of the economic downturn that has affected racing along with most other industries in the country. But he said TV ratings for the sport are up, indicating the interest is still there.

Snyder also touted the plan for a new Detroit River crossing between Michigan and Canada.

“We’re working hard to build a bridge to make it easier to get to the race,” he said, addressing NASCAR’s Canadian fans.

“Our goal is to get something going on that bridge authority by October of this year.”

In a separate event, Stabenow and Vilsack heard from former NASCAR driver Richard Childress and Danny Lawrence, trackside manager for Earnhardt-Childress Racing, about NASCAR’s switch to biofuelsmade with domestic crops. NASCAR designated Sunoco Green E15, a 15 percent ethanol blend made specifically for racing, as its official fuel for the 2011 season.

“It’s been a relatively easy transition from unleaded fuel,” Lawrence said, adding that the switch also boosted power.

“Anything that we can do to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, we’re all about that,” he added.

Stabenow talked about how the use of biofuels relates to Michigan agriculture.

She said one-quarter of Michigan jobs are related to agriculture and praised NASCAR for “leading the way at a time when folks don’t understand about ethanol.”

Stabenow also criticized the oil industry, saying that efforts to promote biofuel use are met with behind-the-scenes resistance aimed at stopping competition.

“We should not underestimate the extent to which big oil is not really wanting this to come to fruition,” she said.

After the Environmental Protection Agency this year approved allowing 15 percent ethanol fuel on the market, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and other trade groups sued to stop its introduction, citing concerns about long-term engine damage. Vilsack defended the decision, saying it came after “a very extensive testing process” in which cars from model year 2001 and later were tested for tens of thousands of miles.

Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, said increased biofuel availability will reduce dependence on foreign oil.

“We’re importing less oil today than we were two years ago and we’ll be importing less oil two years from now than we are today,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy said in May that U.S. dependence on imported oil dropped below 50 percent for the first time in more than 10 years. The department attributed the drop to the weak economy, more fuel-efficient vehicles and increased domestic production of both crude oil and biofuels.

Vilsack also said alternative fuel is a job creator and a way to increase farm income.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be putting the throttle fully down on this industry,” he said.