Storms threaten raceday

They predicted a 70 percent chance of rain during Sunday's 500-mile (800-km) race, raising the possibility of a Monday finish at the famed Brickyard.

"We're going to get rain," Ed Terrell of the National Weather Service said on Saturday. "As it sits now, it looks like isolated showers and thunderstorms."

If 101 of the scheduled 200 laps cannot be completed on Sunday, the race will continue on Monday.

The last race disrupted by rain was in 2004. The race was stopped after 27 laps and, following a two-hour delay, was restarted and then called after 450 miles when rain again swept across the 2.5-mile oval.

In 1997 the 500 was forced into a Tuesday finish when steady rain on Sunday and Monday cut racing short.

Reuters