The NTT IndyCar Series was forced to delay the start of Saturday's Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, the first of two weekend races of the track's doubleheader, due to rain.
Once the race got underway, more rain began to fall shortly after the conclusion of the first pit cycle, and following a lengthy caution flag period during which drivers, teams, and fans were hoping the rain would subside, conditions only worsened, and the red flag flew.
Despite everyone's best efforts to dry the four-turn, 1.015-mile (1.633-kilometer) West Allis, Wisconsin oval, which notably does not have track lights, in time to resume the race, it was not meant to be.
And quite frankly, that's a good thing.
The later and later it got, the more you started to wonder why IndyCar didn't just pull the plug. But no; they were willing to run 35 more laps just so they could call it a day. Their goal was to get to half distance just to check off the box.
For the sake of convenience, we get it, since it's a doubleheader weekend and running back-to-back races on a Sunday isn't something the series has done since the Toronto street race doubleheader in 2014. It hasn't been done on an oval since a designed Saturday night doubleheader, when both races were half-distance races to begin with, at Texas Motor Speedway in 2011.
Quite frankly, there's a reason that idea was never put into place again, but that's a subject for another day.
At any rate, IndyCar should not start nor restart an event without the goal of running the entire event. They already ran nearly 30 laps under yellow just to get to the red flag on lap 91. What would have happened had they restarted it?
Under the uncertain conditions, probably another 30 laps under yellow, and then a five-lap shootout until it was too dark to continue, and that's the best-case scenario. Better yet, maybe they would have finished the race with another 35-lap yellow flag stint just to say they reached half distance.
Thank goodness the weather did not cooperate. Thank goodness the track wasn't able to dry in time. And thank goodness the goal is, once again, to run a full 250-lap race, even though that will create challenges with another 250-lap race scheduled to follow shortly thereafter.
Obviously, if a race reaches half-distance, and then further bad weather causes another delay that ultimately leads to a shortened race, that's a different story. But this wasn't a case of that.
We do feel bad for those who paid for a Saturday ticket and can't come back on Sunday. Rainouts are never fun. Here's the thing: the track is still letting those who can come back come back. At least for those fans, that beats the alternative of watching a Saturday night yellow flag parade just to say you attended an IndyCar race, doesn't it?
Fox Sports 1 is now set to broadcast the rest of the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 live from the Milwaukee Mile beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile is still set to be shown live on Fox beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss either race!
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