Little 500 Race Director Jordan Bailey woke up at approximately 4:30 a.m. for Qualifications day, one of his favorite days of the year. Greeting him at the track was rain. Lots of it.

Bailey decided to make a decision about the track at 7:30 a.m. If there were no puddles, the plan was to move forward with the day as planned, despite the rain.

At 7 a.m., there was a truck carrying what Bailey described as something similar to a leaf blower that went around the track, trying to dry it out. It didn’t work. There were still puddles and standing water, and at 7:30, Bailey announced everything would be delayed for five hours.

After letting the rain run its course, the track and dryer did laps around the track at 11 a.m. and again at noon, and Bailey announced qualifications were on pace to resume, as planned, at 1 p.m.

Here at the track now at 12:46 p.m., the track looks very dry, and the cinders should be tightly packed together. Bailey said the track “should be fast. Should be really fast.”