Indy car drives nuclear message home
Racing driver Simona De Silvestro secured a top five finish at the opening event of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar racing series in the USA in a car carrying the message "Nuclear Clean Air Energy".Racing driver Simona De Silvestro secured a top five finish at the opening event of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar racing series in the USA in a car carrying the message "Nuclear Clean Air Energy".
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| Simona De Silvestro's car with a nuclear message (Image: Entergy Nuclear) |
The car is part of the HVM Racing team and is sponsored by US utility Entergy, whose chief nuclear officer John Herron watched De Silvestro take fourth place at the St Petersburg Grand Prix in Florida.
Having a message - rather than a sponsor's name or product - was a new departure in the 25-car IZOD IndyCar field. Team owner Keith Wiggins and driver De Silvestro were both upbeat about the message. "Through history we have seen how sport transcends social barrier - whether race or gender or other - and can lead the way for new thinking. We believe we are doing this with the Nuclear Clean Air Energy message on our car," said Wiggins, while De Silvestro said " I couldn’t be more proud to represent Entergy and this industry since I am a personal advocate for clean and safe nuclear power."
Entergy is the second largest nuclear generator in the USA, with 12 operating reactors in its generating portfolio including two at Grand Gulf in Mississippi, where it holds an Early Site Permit for the possible construction of a new plant.
The next race meeting in the series will take place on 10 April in Birmingham, Alabama.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
