In motorsports, details matter. The racers out front are where they are because they sweat the details – every single detail. Some of those details are obvious, while others are, quite literally, hiding in the depths of the vehicle’s gas tank.

The Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour heads to Pittsburgh International Race Complex for this weekend’s Super Tour and Northeast Conference U.S. Majors Tour, and with so much on the line, most racers will have gone through their race cars with a fine-tooth comb. Hopefully, along with that came an evaluation of the fuel already sitting in their race car’s tank.

According to Sunoco, the official fuel of the SCCA, race fuel is more stout than street gas, so running race gas from a previous competition season is perfectly alright – just ensure it was stored correctly. For that, Sunoco recommends keeping containers sealed tightly, which will minimize the loss of certain components in the fuel that tend to evaporate more readily than others.

Be it stored in a fuel tank, fuel cell, jug, or drum, Sunoco recommends the container is as full of race gas as possible, minimizing the vapor space above the liquid to reduce the amount of moist air in the container. Fuel should then be kept free of large temperature swings. Changes in temperature can make a fuel container or fuel cell breathe more, which can degrade fuel quality.

Light is another enemy of fuel storage. UV-proof dark fuel jugs, steel drums, and the like are required for maximum shelf life of the fuel. Since fuels contain light sensitive components, the octane rating of the fuel can drop if the fuel sees too much light.

Sunoco notes that correctly stored race fuels can last for a year or more, although race fuels that will be stored for two years or longer should have a fuel stabilizer added while the fuel is still fresh.

To learn more about Sunoco and its high-quality race and street gas, visit sunoco.com/quality-fuels.

Photo by Rick Corwine.