IndyCar: Why Scott McLaughlin's Indy 500 'excuse' is simply legendary

While the first day ended up being shortened and the second day ended up being canceled altogether due to bad weather, Indy 500 season officially got underway earlier this week with the annual open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Of the 35 expected entries vying to compete in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval next month, 34 took part in at least one of the three sessions that were held on Wednesday before the rain ultimately set in, washing out the remainder of the day's session and preventing anything from happening on Thursday.

One week before the test, Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin came up with somewhat of an excuse slip for fans who might have had work or school-related conflicts keeping them from tuning in.

Of course, messages such as these are nothing new. Any time there is a rainout in any racing series -- be it IndyCar, NASCAR, etc. -- there will be various "permission slips" that make the rounds on social media to skip class and watch the race on Monday.

But this one in particular stands out because of that second paragraph.

"They're just going to be watching it on their phones on Peacock all day anyway."

Truer words have literally never been spoken.

That's what really hits home, and it's why I sure hope this permission form makes the rounds next month ahead of the start of the official Indy 500 practice week.

And while I understand that these types of forms are started as somewhat of a joke, it's also why I sincerely hope somebody somewhere takes this completely seriously.

'You just don't know what Indy means'

I can think back to at least one instance per year during my middle school and high school career when I was on my phone or even on a computer watching or listening to some kind of Indy 500 practice session when I technically wasn't supposed to be (before the Peacock days, of course).

Being an IndyCar follower and a fan of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", you really didn't even think twice about it; you just did it.

I even had a few classmates try to rat me out one year; much to their attention-seeking chagrin, the instructor didn't care (at all). As Al Unser Jr. would say, they just don't know what Indy means.

I'm sure others can relate.

To be fair, neither FanSided nor Minute Media have yet to ask me to analyze some random piece of 1600s art, a Shakespearean play, or an African elephant hunting song -- all things that were, for some reason I've yet to uncover, viewed as extremely important assignments during those last few years leading up to high school graduation.

So without dissecting the many intricacies of the modern-day education system, I'd say that that the long-term effects of ignoring such busywork during (very few) fourth-quarter school days and focusing on the greatest sporting event in the world during select classes was actually a rather good investment.

And I'm sure that others will feel the same way in hindsight, x number of years from now, by doing the same.

Because Indy, quite frankly, is indeed "way more important than whatever else is going on".

So take McLaughlin's advice. Fill out this form (well, hopefully an updated one next month). And if your school says no, just watch it anyway. You do know what Indy means, and for anyone who stands in your way, that's their loss. They just don't know it yet.