Long Beach keeping an eye on Japan

There are a few drivers in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach keeping a watchful eye on the Indy Racing League race in Motegi, Japan. Rain postponed the start of the Motegi race and pushed the start to Sunday. It was supposed to start tonight.
If the Motegi race gets rained out, the Long Beach race won’t count toward the IRL championship. Part of the merger agreement between the IRL and the old Champ Car World Series was that the points drivers earned in the Grand Prix of Long Beach would count toward the IRL championship. It could have been a great opportunity for a driver like Graham Rahal, who won the IRL race in St. Petersburg, to build a lead in the IRL championship standings.
But it looks like if the Motegi race gets cancelled, the Grand Prix of Long Beach will be nothing more than an exhibition in the IRL season, a meaningless final chapter in the Champ Car World Series.
Justin Wilson, who won the provisional pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach, said he hopes the race in Motegi happens.
“I heard a rumor early, I don’t know how true it is, of it possibly being rained out the whole weekend, in which case this race wouldn’t count for points,” said Wilson, driver for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. “We’re hoping that’s not true because we feel like we’ve got a good opportunity here to do what we’re used to and get a few points before we go back and struggle on the ovals.”
The latest from Japan is that the race is scheduled to run at Sunday at 11 a.m. Japan Standard Time, 10 p.m. on Saturday Eastern Daylight Time, 7 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. It will be televised on ESPN Classic live and again at 7 a.m. Sunday Pacific time.
"We never got a situation where the race track was presentable and safe to race on,” said Brian Barnhart, president of Indy Racing League competition and operation division. “The drivers would not have been comfortable and been in a position to where we could have done anything today."