…or at least four tenths of a mile an hour.

In what is supposed to be essentially a spec series, Helio Castroneves has done the impossible, posting a pole position speed of 227.970 mph, including two laps over 228 mph.  Theoretically, this is impossible, but then again, he wasn’t supposed to be able to beat the feds. 

He wasn’t supposed to be able to part the Red Sea, either.

Everything looks good.  The low cloud deck that might be fog to the north of here will burn off fairly quickly as the morning goes along.  I expect the sun to at least be partially to mostly present.  The air temperature might not hit 80° at the airport, but with all the aluminum here, it’ll feel at least that much in the stands.  So take my word for it, look at yesterday’s forecast, and roll with it.

OK, so tomorrow looks to not be such a freaking hassle to forecast. It looks like we’ll have warmth, a pretty good chance to see that incandescent ball in the sky, and a moderate amount of humidity. In other words, I’m wearing shorts and maybe I’ll get rid of some of my nintendo tan on my legs.

There’s a slight chance for a residual sprinkle for the morning practice, but even that looks pretty unlikely at this point.

So instead of just focusing on rain, I’ll give you some numbers.

• Temperature: 82°F
• Dew Point:  65°F
• Relative Humidity: 57%
• Winds: Easterly at 8 mph
• Chance of Precipitation: 10% early, 0% past 11 AM (famous last words)
• Will we achieve all twenty stages of Pole Day qualifying:  Yes

Well, I may have lied to a legend.  Howdy Bell, formerly of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network asked me for a forecast update, and I told him that I thought two was still the realistic point for rain.  Well, shortly thereafter, that little cluster of showers completely died and it looks like we might be good for another few hours.  There was a brief yellow for sprinkles, which weren’t enough to even show up on the concrete of Gasoline Alley, but otherwise, it’s a lot less rainy than the skies look.

There is the tiniest little rain shower to the southwest of the Speedway that looks to be dying, but if it hit, it would be a very short delay if anything.  Other than that, there is a cluster of storms crossing the Illinois/Indiana border, but the eastward component of their track is very slight. I don’t even really see that line getting here by 6:00 unless it starts to fire storms ahead of it, which isn’t out of the question. 

OK, after a brief distraction, the tiny shower heading this way is nearly nonexistent, and there is really no sign of things firing ahead of time. 

Will it rain?  To quote the magic eight-ball, "all signs point to no, Sosa."