The FireKeepers Casino 400 did not go the way anyone wanted it to. Not only was the race delayed by 2 hours, but when it finally went underway, it was suspended soon after. Oftentimes, rain delays are waited out but after the start of the race, dark clouds started to loom in. However, the rains were not the main problem, causing the race to be postponed to Monday.

The Michigan International Speedway has one major problem that we don’t see often at international tracks. Having no lights around the circuit makes it difficult to hold races in the later evenings, and that’s exactly what happened. The rains pushed the race start by 2 hours, and by then it started to get too dark for the drivers to get on the track, and many fans were left disappointed as they had to head home with an unconcluded race. In the end, despite the race starting, it was later suspended as it started to get dark. NASCAR announced that it would take place on Monday.

This is one of the biggest issues at the Michigan International Speedway, and figuring out the way out of it should be the track owner’s top priority. Bob Pockrass shared a post where he highlighted the main issues at the Michigan track and not having lights on the tracks was just one of them. Another issue that was pointed out by the FOX Sports Journalist was that the race was in a rural area without much infrastructure, which meant no lights on the track, parking lot, or roads.

Fans are unhappy with how their weekend turned out, as many were looking forward to watching the race. The fans that showed up at the circuit had to leave without watching the Cup Series race, and unfortunately, many of them will not have time to head back to the circuit for the FireKeepers Casino 400. So when Pockrass put out the tweet, it was only obvious that fans would rush to the comments section to vent their frustration.

Fans discuss their problems with the Michigan International Speedway

Straight off the bat, one fan said, “On point one, if you race to 830 p.m., you’re sending all those people home on the same dark roads. That point makes no sense If you have lights, you open up the opportunity to hold more events at the track “It is not an issue with ownership or amount of money incoming on tv contract.” In their comment, they mentioned how the delay has caused the fans to leave for home on dark roads in the middle of the rain, and having only a 2-lane road does not help.

This fan pointed out how there was a music festival at the circuit, which often needed a lot of lights. On the other hand, the same was not done for NASCAR, prompting the comment, “Seems like if they’re able to figure all that out for a music festival there in the summer, they could figure it out for NASCAR too.”

A suggestion came from one fan who mentioned that starting races earlier would ensure that fans get to enjoy the race on the day it was planned. This would also help figure out how to handle sudden rains like we saw on the tracks yesterday, despite the forecast. The comment read, “We shouldn’t need to be worried about if you can race to 8:30-9ish in the summertime. Schedule races earlier and we have a chance to get a good chunk, if not the entire race, yesterday.”

This fan is saying that it’s hard to take the lack of lights at Michigan International Speedway seriously because many smaller, local tracks across the country don’t have fancy lighting but still manage to host races just fine. This was portrayed in the comment that said, “The first main point is laughable considering literally every local short track in America.”

“Then don’t have the event there if they can’t support it,” said a fan. This fan is more direct, suggesting that if the Michigan track can’t properly support a NASCAR event, they shouldn’t hold it there at all. They think that if the track doesn’t have the necessary facilities, NASCAR should move the event to a different location that can handle it better.

What do you think of the mess-ups from yesterday’s race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.