Celebrating the teams bringing sustainable materials to the Indianapolis 500
One of the biggest stages in US motorsports is creating new ways to enjoy the thrill of the last lap by innovating – from fuel to tires – to help make the sport of racing more sustainable.
Celebrating the teams bringing sustainable materials to the Indianapolis 500
The nail-biting finish at the 2023 Indianapolis 500 came down to a one-lap showdown after the third red flag. The crowd of more than 300,000 were on their feet as the race cars edged each other in the final lap.
All eyes focused on the spinning tires, few knowing those tires were making a debut of their own. This would be the first Indy 500 raced on tires containing sustainable materials*.
A surround sound win
Just before Josef Newgarden entered Turn 3, he powered past his closest opponent, and used a snaking driving maneuver to hold on to his win – making this only the third time in Indy 500 history a driver has used a last-lap pass to win.
This was a monumental win on several fronts. For Newgarden, this was his first Indy 500 win, and for the teams behind the win, it brought many to tears of joy.
This win was also an opportunity for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to showcase its decarbonization journey and how it’s finding ways to innovate, together.
Cara Krstolic, Chief Engineer, Bridgestone TiresWe all love racing, and we want the sport to be enjoyable for those people that come after us – we want our kids to enjoy racing. We want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.
The anatomy of a race tire
Tires in this series withstand straight line speeds up to 240 miles per hour, with temperatures over 150 degrees Fahrenheit. While Firestone Firehawk race tires maintained the construction and compound design used in last year’s Indy 500, one component made an impact toward increased sustainability efforts this year.
Firestone used a synthetic rubber with ISCC+ certified circular butadiene in this year's Indy 500-specific race tire*. Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Norco** produced the butadiene with hard-to-recycle plastic waste, such as used plastic shopping bags, film, stretch wrap and other flexible plastic packaging.
Every car on the grid was also powered by Shell Renewable Race Fuel***, the first US- based motorsport series to do so, helping demonstrate that reliability, drivability, and performance remain paramount on this journey to decarbonization of the sport.
A lower carbon future at a century old plant
Located outside of New Orleans in Norco, Louisiana, near the Mississippi River, sits Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Norco - a 100-year-old facility with unique capabilities to make traditional products alongside renewable fuels, lower carbon ethylene, and circular chemicals derived from recycled plastic waste**.
*Tires incorporated ISCC Plus certified circular butadiene, a monomer derived from hard-to-recycle plastics, allocated using the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) mass balance approach. The circular monomer derived from hard-to-recycle plastics replaced a percentage of the petroleum-based monomer historically used in the tires.
**Shell in the US has processed limited quantities of feedstock derived from recycled plastics waste for the purpose of assessing viability.
***The Renewable Race Fuel is blended from components derived from bio-waste that meet the renewable fuel definition in the Renewable Fuel Standard. The definition for renewable fuel can be found here: eCFR :: 40 CFR Part 80 Subpart M -- Renewable Fuel Standard. The Renewable Race Fuel is not available at Shell retail stations.
