Leave it to the gas guzzlers of NASCAR to pull off building one of the United States' largest alt-energy installations.

With the help of nearly 40,000 solar panels tucked away in an adjacent lot, yesterday's running of the Pennsylvania 500 helped mark Pocono Raceway as the largest sports facility in the world to run on solar power. After breaking ground a year ago, officials on hand in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, applauded an effort that will eventually supply at least 3 megawatts of electricity to the greater Pocono Mountain area. That's enough to power events at Pocono Raceway – which has run up an annual electricity bill as high as $250,000 – as well as nearly 1,000 nearby homes.

According to the senior NASCAR officials, other venues could soon follow suit. "We encourage other tracks and sponsors to follow this lead in making sustainable programs and renewable energy a continued priority for the sport," said NASCAR chief Brian France in a statement.

Construction on the array, which encompasses a 25-acre lot and comes at a total price tag topping $15 million, finally ramped up some two months ago. After months of planning, the project's feasibility was further enhanced by the constant slide in photovoltaic solar cell pricing. And aside from making Pocono Raceway the world's largest solar-powered sports complex, the solar farm is already Pennsylvania's largest, as well. “We needed a way — how can we save the most money on our power usage?” Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky told the New York Times last year. “It’s good for us. It’s good for the environment. It’s good for the community.” If all goes well with the operational ramp-up, the solar farm should be at full capacity within a few weeks and officials expect it will pay for itself in less than five years.

What remains to be seen is whether other organizations will jump on the solar-driven movement to make US sports as clean-powered as possible. You'd figure if a sport – and an entire lifestyle – so synonymous with gasoline could do it, other less combustion engine-centric sports really have little excuse.

Photo: Sports Business Daily