INDIANAPOLIS — The devastating news of the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network) taking place behind closed doors was announced on Tuesday. It was a gut punch to so many.  I can only imagine the pain of this decision for everyone involved. It wasn’t an easy one. There is a lot of hurt in this world right now and this further contributed to it.

While some are mad that Roger Penske citing that he has had all along that the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing” will only run with fans in the stands, and I get your frustrations, just at least be thankful that the the main they call “The Captain” is at least the captain of this ship.

See, while I fear for what collateral damage is going to come in wake of this announcement, I also fear for what could have been had the previous administration had still been in charge during this pandemic. The COVID-19 craze could have been the wave that put the Indianapolis Motor Speedway under.

Nothing against the Hulman George Family and I’m not here to bash them, they’re royalty to me, but that’s not what this is about. What this is about is, at least someone like Roger Penske is in charge now. I don’t know if Hulman George was still in control, if they financially could have kept this thing going.

They needed to sell last year — hence Tony George approaching Roger Penske on pit road during the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season finale in Laguna Seca. What would have happened if they didn’t have that conversation, held onto the assets, then let a pandemic hit?

It’s a scary thought.

If Penske didn’t buy the track, someone else could have. Would they have the same dream and vision as us? Would they have kept the famed grounds in tact and kept the legendary open wheel series alive?

Penske was the absolute best person they could have found and they had the vision to get out at the right time. Now, it’s great to have a person like Penske to have a vision to get us out of this.

Did Penske and his team wake up this morning and think, ‘how can I go and piss off my fan base?’ I highly doubt so. He didn’t want to do this. He has spent millions of his own money on updating this place. He bought himself a shiny new present last November and was tinkering with it, just waiting to show it off to all of us.

Imagine the devastation he must feel. Luckily, he’s not giving up. He’s not going anywhere.

“Penske Corporation made a long-term investment to be the steward of this legendary facility,” IMS said on Tuesday of the situation of not having any fans. “While we were very excited to showcase the investments and enhancements we have made in the guest experience, we know we have reached the right decision. As much as Roger Penske and everyone associated with the ‘500’ wanted to race with fans this year, we ultimately reached this conclusion in partnership with the state of Indiana and city of Indianapolis.

“Our commitment to the Speedway is unwavering, and we will continue to invest in the Racing Capital of the World.”

That’s great news on a day that’s so dark. See, Penske is a smart businessman. He owns a team in the series. The last thing he wants to do is jeopardize he most recent acquisition as well as tank a series that he’s so heavily involved in.

This is his baby. This is something he doesn’t want to see fail. With so much failure going around right now and we know the bottom line is going to hurt several teams in this industry, having a guy like Penske in charge can at least find a way to minimize that.

He has deep pockets. Even though the financial loss of not having fans right now is going to be HUGE, Penske is a guy that can fund our way through this and has the brains to keep us in the right direction when the tunnel ahead is still pitch black with no real end of the bright lights at the end of the tunnel in sight.

With the existing team at IndyCar of Mark Miles, Jay Frye and all those talented folks running that ship, to go along with Doug Boles and his team at IMS on that side, then throw Penske above all, you get some talented and people in charge to lead us still.