INDIANAPOLIS – Unfortunately, we have to mention the dreaded “r” word for Sunday’s 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 (11 a.m. ET/NBC/INDYCAR Radio Network). Yes, rain is in the forecast as right now, as it looks like it will be 50-50 on if mother nature will interrupt the 103rd edition of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

If it does, Doug Boles, President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, says that contingency plans are obviously in place.

The start time for Sunday’s 200 Lap race is for approx. 12:45 p.m. ET. With the timing of rain up in the air right now, Boles says that there is a chance the start time could be moved up a bit, but as of now, it doesn’t seem likely.

See, tracks don’t like to move the time up much, if at all anyways. The reason is because it’s a logistical nightmare. You have to literally change the schedule around for everything. Then, you have to go through TV and Radio to even see if it’s an option to move up. On top of all of that, you can’t disrupt the fan experience. A majority of race fans have plans already in place. You can’t move the race up hours and risk a good portion of fans missing the start of the event itself.

While it’s an option, if it does get moved up, don’t expect it to be any more than an hour.

Then there’s this, what happens if the rain comes early and delays the start? Boles noted that the latest they could possibly start the race is 6 p.m. ET but even that he thinks is too late.

See, the race is typically completed around the three hour mark. That’s without many hassles. With sunset slated to be at 9:02 p.m. ET on Sunday, a start at 6 p.m. ET means the race will be ending just before night fall. That is a concern for Boles as he doesn’t want 300,000+ fans roaming the area without any lights in place for them to see.

That would be a huge nightmare for local law enforcement as well as track officials/security. So, realistically, the latest start time would be anywhere between 5 to 5:30 p.m. ET.

In order for that to happen, the rain would have to stop by 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET to realistically get the track dried in time. The new sealant on the track helps with getting the surface drier quicker. Just look at last Sunday as a prime example. But, it still needs to stop raining in order for it to work.

Boles also notes that ticket sales are comparable to 2018 and that we should see around 300k in attendance on Sunday. If we’re going to be up in terms of numbers and not flat, it would be dependent on a strong walk up crowd this weekend.

In terms of rain on race day, the race has been rained out just three times in 102 prior years. The first was in 1915 when the race being scheduled to run on Saturday, May 29, but was postponed a day early actually because of several recent rainstorms and was rescheduled for Monday, May 31.

See, for Sunday, all we have to get to is Lap 101 for this race to be official. Lets hope that doesn’t happen. No one wants to see half of a race.

The next time that was rain shortened was in 1986 when the race was rained out for two straight days. They didn’t actually start the race until the following Saturday, May 31.

The last time after that was in 1997 when we saw a complete postponement on race day itself, then only 15 laps run before rain settled in on Monday. The race was run to completion on Tuesday, May 27.

That’s it.

We have had partial postponements though. In 1967, the race was rained out after 18 laps and finished the next day. In 1973, the race was started on a Monday but after a lengthy delay for a first lap crash, it was postponed until the next day. Then, on the Tuesday portion, rain started falling on the second pace lap, delaying the race to Wednesday. That race was rain shortened as rain fell again on that day too.

Speaking of rain shortened races, we’ve only see that happen seven times, the last being in 2007 after 166 laps. Between that and 180 laps run before severe weather came through here in 2004, those are the only two instances in the last 43 years.

In the 70’s, 1973 (133 laps), 1975 (174 laps) and 1976 (102 laps) were shortened for rain. Prior to that, it was 1926 (160 Laps) and 1950 (138 Laps) that were rain shortened races.