Terry Angstadt,  president of the Indy Racing League’s commercial division, says the U.S. ethanol industry didn’t include all the facts when it criticized the IRL’s sponsorship deal with Brazil. In an email, Angstadt points out that U.S. producers essentially had first dibs on the IndyCar Series, but chose to drop their sponsorship:

The IndyCar Series is proud to be fueled by ethanol, a renewable energy fuel.

For the last three years, ethanol has been the official fuel as a result of a sponsorship agreement with the ethanol producers and EPIC, the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council. The ethanol producers recently notified the IndyCar Series that it would not be renewing the agreement for 2009 and beyond and EPIC is ceasing operation. No one from any other part of the American-based ethanol community stepped forward with a substantial proposal. Soon after, the IndyCar Series and APEX-Brasil reached a preliminary agreement.