Sunday A Bad Day For IndyCar

Waukesha, Wis. – As I sit here, attempting to watch the IndyCar fiasco (er, excuse me, so-called race) from Sao Paulo, Brazil, I am appalled by the fact that the race officials actually attempted to start the race under the conditions that existed at the track.

A race in the rain is one thing, but to attempt to start an event when the visibility, as illustrated by the in-car cameras, is virtually non-existent, is ridiculous.

At the very least, the race should have been stopped after the first lap incident when it was quite apparent that the conditions on the track were extremely bad.

But no, a restart was attempted, and once again there were cars all over the first turn.

As the laps slowly went on, more and more cars were spinning and hitting the wall, causing the destruction of much equipment and, more importantly, exposing the drivers to potential injury.

Already, in the first lap incident, Tony Kanaan hurt his hand and it is unknown if there are other minor injuries, although, Thank God, it is apparent no serious injuries have occurred.

After the rain turned into a monsoon, and there were cars spun and damaged all over the track, the race was finally red-flagged.

Meanwhile, in the nine laps run, the mechanical carnage was incredible.

Now, I am the first person to admit I am not particularly a fan of street course races but I understand they are now a permanent part of the sport and I know running in the rain is a part of non-oval racing.

However, rain is one thing, a deluge is another.

When conditions become as bad as they were, it is absurd to start a race.

As the prolonged red flag period continued, IndyCar officials suspended the normal rule of no work on the cars and allowed teams to make repairs as the monsoon continued.

During the red flag period, many of the drivers were interviewed and the common theme was visibility. Almost to a driver, they stated they had never tried to drive in such bad visibility.

Apparently, there was am attempt at a discussion with several veteran drivers before the race but there were radio problems and IndyCar President of Competition and Racing Operations Brian Barnhart was unable to reach drivers to consult with them.

Well, after a two-hour delay, drivers are back in their cars and ready to go back out on the track. All previously damaged cars have been repaired and Tony Kanaan has been medically cleared to drive.

However, it is still raining, although not as hard as it was before, and the wettest spots have been continually swept in an attempt to get the water off the track.

The plan is to put the cars on the track for a number of pace laps to help dry the track and check out the visibility.

From the looks on the faces of most of the drivers, it appears that they are less than happy to be driving under such adverse conditions.

They’re back out on the track and the spray and visibility is just as bad as it was.

At least they’re not counting the current laps.

It must be a huge disappointment to the Brazilian people, who are huge race fans.

This race is reminiscent of a Champ Car World Series event in Australia several years ago in which only one lap was run under green due to the heavy rain and was won by Mario Dominguez.

That race was one of the final straws in the downfall of the Champ Car World Series and this race is not doing IndyCar’s image any good as well.

The red flag has just come out and I don’t understand why they put the cars out on the track in the first place.

Now, they have finally postponed the race until tomorrow, which is what should have been done in the first place.

Hopefully, IndyCar will get their act together tomorrow and the rest of the season so we will not see another disaster of the caliber of today’s attempt to race.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

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