Race Control to Major Kanaan

Acute watchers of the yesterday's St. Petersburgh Grand Prix Indycar race may have noticed that race control seemed to be asking pole-sitter Tony Kanaan about his opinion of the rain-soaked track. Odd? I thought so too.

It's not news that race control chief Brian Barnhardt communicates with the Indycar drivers on pace laps, but usually he's giving instructions to the front row as they approach the green flag or telling someone to hold their line in the corners.

However, as the field took the track in the pouring rain, ESPN patched in the race control radio channel and it sounded as if Barnhart asked Kanaan if the track was dry enough for the green flag, to which Kanaan replied that it needed a few more laps of yellow.

Since when does a competitor get to weigh in on these issues? Barnhart has a small army of track workers in the corners and in the drying trucks, they could certainly tell him about puddling. If I was Kanaan, I'd tell Barnhart that the track was ready only when it reached a dryness that best fit my driving style. Some guys right behind Kanaan may have posed a huge threat in the wet, but they probably didn't get a vote.

This is the first time I've heard of this sort of communication, and it's something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.