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Weepers win the day, postpone Indy Japan 300

IRL officials have given official word to postpone today’s running of the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi due to water seeping through the asphalt at Turn 4.

While several areas on the 1.5-mile oval had this issue at one point or another, it appeared that the main focus of IRL and TRM officials was in T4, where the worst of the “weepers” was situated. Unfortunately, track crews were unable to alleviate the problem before Brian Barnhart’s deadline of 2 a.m. ET (Saturday, 3 p.m. in Japan).

As a result, the 200-lap race will be moved to tonight at 10 a.m. ET (Sunday 11 a.m. JT) and it will be shown live on ESPN Classic. But the forecast is again calling for rain on Sunday at the Twin Ring.

Track problems delay start of Indy Japan 300

Yesterday’s rainfall at Twin Ring Motegi is now wreaking havoc on race day at the Indy Japan 300. The start of the event has been delayed for about an hour and 20 minutes due to water seeping through seams and cracks in the asphalt, particularly in Turns 2 and 4.

A few minutes ago, the IRL’s Brian Barnhart told ESPN’s Jack Arute that unless the “weepers” can be evaporated by 2:00 a.m. ET time (Saturday 3:00 p.m. in Japan), the race will be postponed. From what I heard from Barnhart, he isn’t feeling very optimistic, as he said that this situation is unlike anything he’s ever seen — including weepers that pop up after May rains at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I’ll continue to keep an eye on the situation, but I’m not feeling too good about seeing a race this morning. ESPN got a great shot of a tiny hole in Turn 4 that had been filled with a suction hose a few minutes earlier; the water was already flowing back toward the top of the hole.

Paul Tracy locked in for Long Beach

Canadian star to race in Champ Car swan song

It looks like Paul Tracy and Gerry Forsythe have decided to set a temporary truce to their contract dispute. Tracy is telling SPEED Channel’s Robin Miller that he will hop in the No. 3 Forsythe Racing Panoz for the final time this weekend at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the last hurrah for the Champ Car World Series.

I can’t believe we almost thought he wouldn’t be there to send his series into history. Now we’ve got one heck of a farewell party. First practice is this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. ET.

Starting Grid: Indy Japan 300

This is the third year in a row that Helio Castroneves will start from P1 at Twin Ring Motegi, and the second time in that span that he’s won the pole via bad weather. In 2006, he used his good fortune to dominate the race, leading 184 of 200 laps en route to the victory. Once again, he and the rest of the field will be seeing a green race track when they line up for the Indy Japan 300 (Midnight ET on ESPN2, IMS Radio, XM 144/145 and IndyCar.com).

Here’s how they’ll line up:

Row 1: Helio Castroneves (inside), Scott Dixon (outside)

Row 2: Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti

Row 3: Dan Wheldon, Danica Patrick

Row 4: Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV

Row 5: Hideki Mutoh, Ryan Hunter-Reay

Row 6: Buddy Rice, Darren Manning

Row 7: Vitor Meira, Jay Howard

Row 8: Ryan Briscoe, Townsend Bell

Row 9: Marty Roth, Roger Yasukawa