INDIANAPOLIS — With the prospect of rain in the Sunday morning forecast, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles said the start of the 108th Indy 500 could be impacted.
During a 6:20 a.m. ET news conference, Boles said IMS likely will make a decision by 9 to 10 a.m. on how to manage the schedule for prerace ceremonies.
“We’ve had several conversations since last night with our internal team, our safety team and NBC,” Boles said. “Our plan is to continue to monitor the cyclone. We’ll get some weather at some point in time. Our greatest concern is not the rain as much as the lightning.
“The next couple of hours really will define when the storm could reach Indianapolis. We have another couple of hours to monitor the weather and make another decision on what the proper thing is to do to keep our customers safe.”
IMS clears the grandstands when lightning impacts within 8 miles of the track.
Boles said once the expected storm passes, the weather looks favorable for getting the race in over the remainder of Sunday. He also noted that despite a 100 percent probability of rain in 2019, the race started on time and ran to completion after a brief morning shower.
“That’s why we’re waiting,” Boles said. “We’re really optimistic we get a window.”
Boles said the storm was on a current track to approach as early as noon or as late as 1 p.m.
The green flag is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET.
Boles said the track considered moving the start up by 30 minutes but decided at 4:45 a.m. ET to remain with the original schedule.
“There was contemplation of moving the start time up to 12:15, but it didn’t make any sense to do that,” Boles said. “The last thing we want is to move it up to 12:15 and have customers waiting and then ask them to depart because of the weather. Because of where (the storm is) tracking, that doesn’t make sense and maybe would place us in a worse situation.”
Coverage of the Indy 500 will commence at 11 a.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
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