WASHINGTON -- Already powerful on Capitol Hill, the ethanol industry is trying to popularize the corn-based fuel by getting it into auto racing cars.

Ethanol's backers are asking the Indy Racing League to make the switch to ethanol, replacing the natural gas-made methanol used by the league since the 1970s.

"It's like those commercials where the race car driver says, 'I use this particular type of oil in my own car.' What does that tell people?" said Republican Sen. Jim Talent. "The key here is advertising and further acceptance of ethanol."

Talent belongs to the Senate Biofuels Caucus, a group of lawmakers dedicated to increasing the use of ethanol. His home state of Missouri has two ethanol manufacturing plants, and farmer-owned cooperative Mid-Missouri Energy is breaking ground Saturday on a third in Malta Bend, Mo.

Caucus members, including Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., urged Indy Racing to adopt ethanol in a letter to president and CEO Tony George. The league's officials are open to the idea, if ethanol makers are willing to pay for it.

"We would be interested in doing it, but it is a decision that would have to be a commercial decision for us," said Fred J. Nation, executive vice president of communications for the Indy Motor Speedway, which owns the league.

But he pointed out that a switch would provide a symbolic gesture, rather than opening a new market for ethanol. Indy Racing and its premier race, the Indianapolis 500, uses fewer than 60,000 gallons of fuel each year. That's less than the amount of ethanol produced annually in Missouri alone.

The symbol is exactly what the industry is looking for because of the booming popularity of auto racing.

"Obviously, being associated with the Indy Racing League would be a tremendous opportunity for our industry, given the high profile of racing," said Monte Shaw, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association. "It's the great American race, and we're the great American fuel, so it seems like we ought to be able to work something out."

Shaw pointed out that Indiana is among the top ethanol-producing states. Others are Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and Tennessee. An ethanol switch would send a message to racing's fans about the IRL's commitment to the region, Shaw said.

The league switched from gasoline to methanol because they wanted fuel that was less likely to ignite; IRL cars are built differently and are faster and smaller, with no fenders and an open cockpit.

Debate over ethanol versus methanol is similar to long-running battles between ethanol and MTBE, the petroleum-based gasoline additive that many states want to ban because it contaminates groundwater. MTBE is produced using methanol.

Both industries are closely watching the big energy bill before Congress, because the Senate has tried to ban MTBE while House Republicans oppose such a move an instead want MTBE given product liability protection from lawsuits over water contamination.

Along with a compromise on MTBE, the bill is expected to double the use of ethanol in gasoline to 5 billion gallons a year.

Pro-ethanol forces emphasize its benefits to air quality. Scientists say ethanol significantly cuts carbon monoxide. But scientists say ethanol also releases more nitrogen oxide, a key smog element, and evaporates more easily than gasoline, causing still other air pollution problems.

About 2.1 billion gallons of ethanol were produced last year, accounting for about 1 percent of the nation's motor fuel. Production is expected to reach 2.7 billion gallons this year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.

U.S. methanol sales exceed 2 billion gallons a year, the Methanol Institute said.

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On the Net:

Renewable Fuels Association: http://www.ethanolrfa.org/

Methanol Institute: http://www.methanol.org/

Indy Racing League: http://www.indyracing.com

Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo.: http://talent.senate.gov/