The first attempt at going green for the Honda Indy Toronto would not go successfully for Will Power and the events that followed brought forth frustration and confusion.

As the cars came for the green, Power lost traction, spinning around and hitting the turn 10 wall. The contact was significant enough to break suspension parts on the left side. Power’s team immediately went to work, repairing the damage in 21 minutes, before returning his car back to the grid. If the event had not been rained out, INDYCAR would have allowed Power to restart last on the field. Fellow competitors were not pleased with INDYCAR’s decision to allow the repairs to be made under the red flag.

“I guess things have changed mightily as you used to not be able to work on the car under the red flag, and now you can do whatever you want to do,” A.J Foyt commented. Michael Andretti also expressed frustration in saying it is a “clear violation of the rules”.

INDYCAR Chief of Competition and Operations Derrick Walker said they allowed Power due to no laps complete and because of the track circumstances.

“The fact is the race hadn’t started yet, and its like when you miss getting your spot on grid so I don’t see a problem,” Penske’s Tim Cindric said.

Though interestingly, past races with a wreck on the start have brough out cautions with laps counting.

“I feel those laps should have counted as we did take the green so they should not be sllowed to work on their cars,” Graham Rahal said.

With the day being a wash and the race set for Sunday, it does not matter as officials will treat the race as if Saturday did not happen.

Due to standing water creating visibility issues down Lakeshore Blvd. (the backstretch) between turns two and three and on other points of the track, INDYCAR officials made the decision to postpone the running of the first race of the double-header this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto to Sunday July 20th. As a result, a pair of races will be ran on Sunday, 75-lap a piece.

The first race will be ran at 10:30 a.m. EST with a rolling start using the starting grid from qualifications. The second race will be ran at 4:15 p.m. EST with a standing start and the grid being set based on the entrant points entering the double header weekend. NBCSN will broadcast both races in the United States, with Sportsnet covering them in Canada.

It became clear to officials that there was an issue after Ryan Briscoe spun in turn five on the pace laps, the pace car slid off in turn three and Will Power spun and made heavy left-side contact with the frontstretch wall off of turn 11.

“I just whipped it – I had no chance. My bad,” Power commented post-incident.

Power’s team would repair the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet in a matter of 21-minutes, having Power back on the grid for a restart, if one was to come. Due to no laps being completed officially, Power will get to start in the spot that he qualified for originally despite his issues.

During the red-flag as officials waited to see if they could get the race in today, drivers were commenting about the poor conditions that they saw just based on the pace laps.

“This is complete unsafe,” Kanaan commented. “I know we’re trying to start this race for a show for the fans, but you cannot start this race. My concern is the safety, and right now this is right off dangerous.”

“It’s not puddling, it’s not lack of grip but rather the fact that there’s a lot of spray and I couldn’t even see the walls one either side of the track,” Rahal said. “We got to be able to see, and the biggest thing is driver safety right now.”

Officials did make every attempt to try and get the race in, however decided after trying for awhile that conditions weren’t suitable.

“We kept sending them out when we thought it was ready to try it again, and then realized that it wasn’t suitable for them to go out,” Derrick Walker, president of Operations and Competition for INDYCAR, said. “I think it was just too wet to start the race today. If you look at it (the standing water) real close, you notice that it makes a difference.

“The other factor here is the oil comes out of the black asphalt when the water hits it. I don’t think that we did the wrong thing as we waited and waited. The in-decision was really us trying to get it in every way we could before we called it because the fans and television hung with us, hoping that we’d be able to run it. We kept trying and we were watching the weather channel and the radar. We thought if we got the race started that we may have been able to help the issue – we’d get it blown away – but visibility was just not that good.”

IndyCar has ran events in the rain – including other events this season, however there is a certain level of visibility that they require for their drivers for their safety.

“At the end of the day, what do we want? A good race, or to be a bunch of gladiators? I think, for the championship battle and series, it’s better to have a good race,” Walker added. we’re trying to put on a show and show the fans that we can put on the best show possible.”

Honda Indy Toronto President Charlie Johnstone announced that people who had Saturday-only tickets will be allowed to exchange their tickets for Sunday-only tickets.

“As the promoter for the Honda Indy, we will honor all Saturday-only GA tickets and grandstand tickets,” he commented. “We will have an exclusive kiosk set-up at the entrance for customers to redeem their Saturday-only tickets for Sunday-only tickets.”

Johnstone added that they will “make every effort possible to honor all tickets”, making sure those who had seats will be given a seat for Sunday, even if shifted over slightly.

Tomorrow’s forecast, though, doesn’t look much better with a 40-60 percent chance of rain throughout the day, per The Weather Network. If need be, INDYCAR and Honda Indy officials have discussed the possibility of running the event on Monday. The main goal right now, per Walker, is to get at least one of the two races in.

For the second straight year in a row, Sheldon Creed would hoist the trophy in Honda Indy Toronto victory lane as he claimed victory in the Saturday SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS event. It marks Creed’s first victory of the 2014 season.

The race would be run in the wet conditions, under a slight drizzle, resulting in trucks sliding through the corners at points. Both Creed and Scott Steele mastered the art, grabbing the early advantage ahead of the field. While Steele grabbed the early lead due to a good starting spot, Creed had to work his way up through after drawing the last starting spot.

“I just went down in the first corner and watched everybody slide out on the concrete,” he commented. “I think there was three or four slide out and then got up through there.”

The pair would swap the lead back and forth while slipping through the turns and jumping the metal ramps along the frontstretch.

“The asphalt wasn’t too bad, but as soon as we hit the concrete, it was slippery,” he commented. “It was pretty slippery so you definitely had to be careful.”

Creed was able to clear Steele after a couple of laps, before holding on the rest of the way to victory, lengthening the gap between himself and Creed at each turn.

In talking about his approach to the ramps, Creed commented, “I just keep it wide open and try to just kick the brake and get back on the gas, trying to settle it down. Just try to keep it wide open as much as I can over the jump.”

With a pair of wins in Toronto under his belt, no doubt the teenager heads into the second event on Sunday with a lot of confidence.

“Definately gives me a little confidence going into tomorrow, but just want to go out there and have a solid day,” he said.

Robby Gordon was able to claim the second finishing spot after Steele slipped up through the turn, bouncing his truck off of the outside of the turn five corner. Gordon commented post-race that this is the second time they’ve ran a street course in the rain, doing it the first time earlier this year at St. Petersburg.

“I think St. Pete was slick till we came here,” Gordon commented. “I predict a big crash down in turn three at the end of the straightway with the IndyCars because it’s straight slick down there. I don’t know what it is, but I almost parked my truck straight in the wall down there. I don’t know what’s going on, whether there’s that much rubber on the track, but it’s very, very slick. And if they do run it, you’re going to see a couple cars in the fence down there. It’s the slickest that I’ve ever experienced, and I don’t know why.”

Steele would recover, finishing third to complete the podium.

“It was a good race,” he commented. “It was really, really slick at first, but I got it going there. I just lost it down there and got into the wall.”

Aaron Bambach held on for a fourth place finish, followed by Apdaly Lopez, who made heavy contact with the turn one tire barrier during practice on Friday afternoon.

Paul Tracy would finish sixth following a pair of spins, while Bill Hynes rounded out the field in his first career Stadium Super Truck start despite spinning around a couple of times.

The SPEED Energy Formula Off-Road presented by TRAXXAS will host a second event for the weekend on Sunday July 20th.

“I hope it’s dry tomorrow,” Gordon commented. “I’ll run the race track either way, but it’s really slippery with these conditions, whether it’s our tires or the concrete. It’s really slick and really slow, so it was basically a whoever didn’t hit the wall finishing well.”