BROWNSBURG, Ind. — The Open-Wheel Opening Day USAC Midget Special Event and 500 Sprint Car Tour doubleheader scheduled for March 26 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park has been postponed to Monday, Aug. 1.
The new date immediately follows the NASCAR/IndyCar weekend at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We apologize for the change of plans, but the extended weather forecast was not going to cooperate for a successful kickoff to our Open-Wheel season,” IRP’s Vice President, Track Management and Operations Kasey Coler said.
The early decision was made to help the number of race teams preparing to travel across the country to participate. To move forward with Saturday’s event, track officials were seeking a race-day forecast of, at least ,50 degrees in ambient temperature and less than an 80 percent chance precipitation, but that threshold was not met by mid-day Monday.
The event was scheduled to be the milestone 300th USAC-sanctioned event on the IRP oval since its construction in 1961. Now, number 300 is scheduled to take place on May 27 with a USAC quadruple header featuring the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, a Midget Special Event and the USAC Silver Crown National Championship.