Shelf life of race fuel

[Ghoste]

What would be the shelf life of racing fuel in distributer sealed 5 gallon containers?  I say a couple of months and friend of a friend is saying years.

[JB400]

Fresher the better in my opinion.  Stored in the right conditions, I'd say probably 2 -3 months.  I've had regular gas go bad in a couple weeks.

[Ghoste]

Absolutely.  The regular stuff can turn to varnish in a couple of years so I just can't see it being more than a couple of months.

[68CoronetRT]

If race fuel is properly stored you should be able to get years of storage out of it. Air sealed in a drum in a cool place would be your best bet.

[Ghoste]

Really?  That's hard to imagine.  Would those 5 gallon cans the distributors market them in be considered an airtight receptacle?

[Bandit72]

How do people think fuel is stored before it gets to the gas station? It's not made on as much of an "as needed" basis as we're told to beleive... 

[Ghoste]

That's partly my point though, the stuff has already been sitting around for a long time when they break it down into smaller containers.