INDIANAPOLIS — During a morning event operations briefing in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway media center, track president Doug Boles told reporters that track and race officials were monitoring severe storms that could involve lightning and could affect the start of Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.
Here’s what you need to know from Bolles’ morning update.
Where is the storm now?
As of 6:20 a.m. ET, the first of two waves of storms forecast to hit the IMS was near St. Louis. Meteorologists tracking the storm said it could move in between noon and 1 p.m. Sunday, and could bring some light rain before the full storm hits.
As of Saturday evening, it was thought that this first wave could hit IMS between 2 and 3 p.m., but that model has since changed, Bolles said.
“Our current plan is to continue to monitor the storm and we expect the weather to improve today,” Boles said. “Our biggest concern is not the rain, it’s the lightning and ensuring the safety of our customers at the Speedway.”
“The next few hours will determine when the storm will hit Indianapolis, and we want to communicate that to our customers, let them know where we stand (regarding rescheduling for the day) and give them time to decide what they want to do: stay at the Speedway, stay in their cars or, frankly, wait out at home until we see how this weather plays out.”
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IMS responds proactively to lightning threats
While fans may be familiar with the general eight-mile rule — lightning within that radius can result in youth sporting events being temporarily postponed or canceled — IMS says it will be quicker to ask fans to leave the stands.
Boles said weather radar will be displayed on video screens around the facility for fans to monitor and act accordingly.
“If this storm begins to develop, we will begin to consider asking spectators to leave the stands much sooner than an eight-mile radius so they can implement their own safety precautions,” Boles said. “We have 120 more minutes to see how this storm develops, and then we will make a new judgment about what the right actions are to keep spectators safe.”
IMS will keep fans updated on weather and venue updates via the public address system and video boards. Fans can also text “Indy500” to 67283 to have alerts sent to their cell phones.
What does this mean for the start time of the Indy 500?
Bolles said there was a distinct possibility that the 500 race would not start as scheduled, with rain likely falling before noon for the green flag, which was scheduled for 12:45 p.m. On Saturday night, IMS, NBC and their partners discussed moving the race start to 12:15 p.m.
“But it didn’t make sense to do that because the storm was looming at midday,” Boles said, “and the last thing we wanted to do was move the race up to 12:15 p.m., have people here waiting for the pre-race ceremony, and then tell them they had to leave because of the weather.”
“When it looked like these storms could hit us between 2 and 3 p.m., a 30-minute advance (of the start) would have really helped, but with this track, it just doesn’t make sense to delay it, because it would just put us in a worse position.”
What will the pre-race ceremony for the Indy 500 look like?
Driver introductions are scheduled for 11:47 this morning, just under an hour before the scheduled drop of the green flag. The sentimental portion begins with “America the Beautiful” at 12:11 p.m., but that’s where the program will likely wrap up, Boles said.
“The most important thing for you guys is the last 30 minutes,” Boles said. “You start working backwards from the ‘engine start command’ and I think by 9:30 a.m. we’ll have a firm grasp on what we’re going to do with those elements. If it’s just rain, we’ll work our way up to our normal pre-race stopping points, then before the last critical part of the cadence, and work our way up to those points as we get closer to the race start or restart.”
“So it’s a question of how much other stuff we put on hold.”
Bolles: “Make the decision that will keep you the safest.”
Boles ended with a message to his fans:
“We want our customers to think about, ‘Where am I going to park? How comfortable am I?’ Some people may not be comfortable sitting in the stands for long periods of time before they find themselves in a situation like this. Think about where you’re going to park, think about where you are. Maybe where you are is not IMS and you want to sit and wait. This place is so big, so those are important aspects.”
“We’re asking our customers to watch the weather, watch the radar, listen to our location and make decisions that will keep them safest. You can see this storm very easily. You can see the red parts of this storm. We’re hoping that it will split or dissipate by the time it gets here, but it won’t be a flash storm.”
Boles also said race officials won’t be too distracted by weather warnings or advisories when making their decision Sunday morning. The next decision should be made by 10 a.m., he said.
“We saw a big red blob coming towards us, with lightning in it. The most important thing we can do is let our fans know and be aware of the situation,” Boals said. “We’re relying on what we see in real time so we can make the best decisions for our fans, regardless of what other people think.”
