DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR is accelerating its environmental sustainability efforts in the 2025 season under the banner of its NASCAR IMPACT platform. The sanctioning body reaffirmed in 2023 that it intends to reach net-zero operating emissions by 2035. To that end, NASCAR plans to power all of its owned race tracks and facilities with 100% renewable electricity and to develop a new sustainable racing fuel.
The organization is also expanding recycling programs, installing on-site electric-vehicle charging at speedways, and stepping up community engagement as part of its year-round green strategy.
NASCAR announced in mid-February 2025 a nationwide food-waste recycling program as a concrete step toward those goals. The sport is partnering with organic recycler Denali and catering partner Levy to collect and recycle leftover or unsold food from NASCAR Cup Series events at all 11 NASCAR-owned tracks this season.
In 2024, NASCAR’s existing efforts diverted nearly 57,000 pounds of race-day food from landfills; the new program is expected to recycle about 80,000 pounds in 2025, cutting an estimated 26.14 metric tons of CO₂ emissions (roughly the same as charging two million smartphones for a day). “NASCAR is proud to announce this national food recycling program across 11 of NASCAR’s owned tracks – one that we believe is among the first major sports leagues to take a nationwide approach to recycling food,” said NASCAR head of sustainability Riley Nelson. The leftovers that cannot be donated are turned into compost, soil amendments and animal feed by Denali, helping fight climate change by keeping organic waste out of landfills .
These new initiatives are part of NASCAR IMPACT’s broader sustainability agenda. The organization commits to monitoring progress through an annual NASCAR Impact Report. “The collaboration is part of NASCAR IMPACT’s sustainability efforts,” the Denali announcement noted, “as NASCAR set a goal to achieve net zero emissions across its operations by 2035 and continues to invest in sustainable practices”. Tracks have already begun installing solar panels and other renewable systems, and NASCAR says it will source renewable power to cover all its owned venues. The Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2023 became NASCAR’s first zero-waste race (90.1% waste diversion, 11.7 tons of waste kept out of landfills) – a benchmark example of the waste-reduction goals now being applied sport-wide.
Alongside NASCAR IMPACT, the long-running Race to Green campaign remains in place as an annual Earth Week awareness drive. NASCAR describes Race to Green as “an annual month-long initiative that galvanizes teams, tracks, drivers, official NASCAR partners and fans to take action steps toward preserving and protecting the environment”.
In practice, the Race to Green program highlights industry-wide efforts on waste reduction, emissions cutting and energy efficiency at events. For example, NASCAR and its partners have run more than 10 million race miles on higher-biofuel gasoline (Sunoco Green E15), recycled oil and lubricants at hundreds of events, and to date planted well over 400,000 trees as carbon offsets. Teams and tracks continue to add recycling stations, LED lighting and other power-saving upgrades, while engaging fans through social media and tree-planting drives under the Race to Green banner.
NASCAR’s sustainability push in 2025 comes amid a broader shift in motorsports and professional sports. Formula 1, for example, has said it aims to become carbon neutral by 2030. NASCAR officials say their 2035 goal and ongoing programs will be tracked with regular reports and industry partnerships. The NASCAR Impact Report (to be published annually) will detail progress not only on emissions and waste, but on community outreach and diversity goals as well. In the words of NASCAR’s leadership, the sport intends “to drive a meaningful impact in the places where we live and race,” reflecting its commitment to a cleaner, more sustainable future.
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