After Five-Hour Wait, NASCAR Postpones Race at 11 p.m.
This is silly. Stupid. We all sat around for four hours -- talking here about drivers, crew, officials, track employees, journalists -- waiting for the Auto Club 500 to resume.
And now it won't.
Minutes before the race was set to go back on Fox TV, NASCAR pulled the plug. We found out when the crews on pit road began packing up their gear. A few minutes later, the official announcement came.
A few hundred fans who were still in the house booed -- loudly -- when crews began rolling cars back to the garages.
.
Kerry Tharp, NASCAR director of communications, competition, made the official announcement.
"Despite efforts to work hard to get the race track ready to continue tonight's race, that was our intent, we felt like the fans that hung in there with us deserved to see a conclusion ....
"However, due to the dew point, humidity, we weren't able to get the track into condition to continue racing. ... It wouldn't allow a complete drying of the track."
The race will resume at 10 a.m. and be televised on Fox.
The Nationwide Cup race will run an hour after the Auto Club 500 concludes, and will be televised on ESPN2.
What a mess of a day this was.
The race could have and should have been canceled at noon, when it was pouring rain in Fontana -- but the Monday forecast was for a dry day.
And if the race were stopped at 6 p.m., when everyone knew there was zero chance of the track being ready for two hours (and more like three) ... why not call it a day and send home everyone? Instead, we all waited and waited. And waited.
Weather made it tough. No question. But NASCAR handled badly almost everything around it.
Now we go home, and have to be back in about 10 hours.
Fans who had tickets to today's races will be admitted without charge to Monday's races. If there isn't anyone sick to death with this whole event.