IndyCar’s decision to race in rain all wet

When Fonzie ski-jumped over a shark on a "Happy Days" episode in 1977 in a storyline intended to boost ratings, the result was the creation of an idiom -- "jump the shark" -- that signifies something that suddenly is on decline beyond recovery.

We hope the comical, bungled end to Sunday's MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 does not fall into that "jump the shark" category, although it might have.

We also hope it doesn't give IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard the idea to add a moat filled with sharks on the front stretch of Las Vegas Motor Speedway when the series races there on Oct. 16, thereby forcing Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves and Danica Patrick to go airborne at 190 mph.

Bernard loves when people talk about IndyCar, but not necessarily like they have been this week.

Sunday afternoon could have been a watershed moment for IndyCar; instead, it drowned in controversy.

The open-wheel series inherited NASCAR Sprint Cup viewers who gave up on a rain delay and eventual postponement of their race in Watkins Glen, N.Y. Motor sports fans jonesing for speed switched to IndyCar on ABC. Cup fans certainly grew weary of ESPN filling time with interviews of everyone but umbrella vendors.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was so unprepared to be on TV that he was caught wearing a white T-shirt without a single sponsor logo.

At least Earnhardt was covered; IndyCar was caught with its pants down, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

IndyCar's chance to convert fender-racing fans was blown like a cheap tire when race officials restarted the race in Loudon, N.H., while it was raining with 10 laps left.

Several racers, including Patrick and championship contender Will Power, spun and crashed after throwing rooster tails like hydroplanes when they hit their throttles.

IndyCar director of competition Brian Barnhart said his staff, including those on the track, did not alert him to the precarious conditions. He shouldered the blame.

The caution flag flew like a yellow life preserver before a lap was completed, and the race was then stopped. Those in race control decided to call the race and determine final standings by reverting to the restart order before the soggy, green flag waved.

No one could recall that happening before in the series. An appeal about the decision filed by two teams will be heard on Tuesday.

Bernard assumes some of the blame but said he wasn't involved in the decision to restart the race.

"I don't go in race control," he said. "Race control has to make those decisions. Like Brian said, we made a mistake."

Apparently no one in the ivory control tower watches a TV monitor or they would have relayed how owner Michael Andretti roared louder than pipes on his race cars about the track being too wet.

Several drivers also yelled the same to crews and spotters.

Barnhart said race control doesn't monitor driver/team chatter.

"I know when I say something to one of my drivers that I don't want officials to hear it," said Sam Schmidt, whose car in the race was driven by Alex Tagliani.

Power was angry after he left his crashed car and saluted ornithologists by flipping a couple of birds to a TV camera.

The decision-makers knew NASCAR's race was delayed, and Barnhart's call might have been clouded by wanting to impress inherited stock car viewers with a dazzling finish on network TV.

The problem was there was more drizzle than dazzle, more "jump the shark" than smart storyline.