The 2012 IndyCar Series thread

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 17 Apr 2011, 21:53

SLOT racing here at Long Beach

Severe
Lack
Of
Talent

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 17 Apr 2011, 21:58

Helio is a noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooob.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:02

ADx_Wales wrote:SLOT racing here at Long Beach

Severe
Lack
Of
Talent

On the part of Mario Doming-... Helio Castroneves... and Graham Rahal... and apparently Takuma Sato and Sebastian Saavedra as well...

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 17 Apr 2011, 22:11

Fantastic runs by Hinchcliffe, Conway, Danica, TK, and by Hunter-Reay until he had problems. It appears that common sense pays dividends.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 18 Apr 2011, 00:44

Marco Andretti got major points in my book for once for saying that the crash with Bourdais was entirely his fault and apologizing in a non-marco-like manor. If only this was the rule and not the exception...

Rocks with Salt · Post by **Rocks with Salt** » 18 Apr 2011, 13:25

I still wonder if the series is gonna fold, if the amateurish nature of the Versus network broadcast is any indication. Drivers are being mislabeled, commercial breaks are always mistimed, commentator opinion ranges from "I really have no idea what's going on here" to "IRL and its drivers suck; CART will always be better," important events are missed, unimportant events are not, Danica Patrick's still a big deal, they forget to censor the drivers' feed... I could go on and on. But the attitude of the broadcast as well as the drivers is severely lacking, and honestly I hope the series folds out of mercy so that it doesn't continue to make a mockery of open wheel racing.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 18 Apr 2011, 17:31

The only things making a mockery of open wheel racing is the stupid double file restarts rule. It took the idiots in NASCAR about 5 races to get those down pat without crashing after two laps, but then again, NASCAR is a series where cowardice apparently keeps you in the series for 10 years! Thankfully, the arrangement of Long Beach makes that difficult to get the entire field bunched up even for the initial start. Also, the track marshaling seemed pretty crap, didn't it?

On the driving front...
EJ Viso has driven like a fool all season long, he's a mockery of a driver in his own right, but every series needs some reject action to entertain. Castroneves has apparently reverted to his 1998-1999 form when he was really fast but also very prone to cause stupid collisions, so he's making a fool out of himself this season. Paul Tracy was up to his old tricks again (bring out the black-tipped nose again!), and Graham Rahal was also being a tool. Then there's Marco Andretti...

Really, I don't expect the ovals to be anywhere near as fail as Barber and St. Petersberg were because Viso always runs in the back during those races. Then again, we still have Sato in the field...

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 18 Apr 2011, 19:03

Indycar Reject of the Year

So far after three races.

3. Ana Beatriz
2. Helio Castroneves
1. EJ Viso

Jeroen Krautmeir · Post by **Jeroen Krautmeir** » 19 Apr 2011, 14:04

My biggest congratulations to Mike Conway! Superb result after that horrific crash last year. Will Power doesn't seem too happy?

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 19 Apr 2011, 16:51

Oh, god, by the end of the race, there were no fewer than 4 cars just sitting on the edge of the circuit. Bourdais' car remained just off to the side in pit lane. I mean, seriously, is it that hard to get an indycar behind the wall?

But, I must say, the broadcast wasn't that bad. Sure, it wasn't the best, but I've heard much worse. The car misidentification IMO is down to the constant switching of paint schemes, and I can understand how even a veteran announcer could get confused.

Rocks with Salt · Post by **Rocks with Salt** » 21 Apr 2011, 13:42

JohnMLTX wrote:Oh, god, by the end of the race, there were no fewer than 4 cars just sitting on the edge of the circuit. Bourdais' car remained just off to the side in pit lane. I mean, seriously, is it that hard to get an indycar behind the wall?

But, I must say, the broadcast wasn't that bad. Sure, it wasn't the best, but I've heard much worse. The car misidentification IMO is down to the constant switching of paint schemes, and I can understand how even a veteran announcer could get confused.

Yes, but you can tell that there are other issues besides the commentary, such as when there was a crash during the Alabama race and the camera cut away to a blank section of the track by mistake. These and other bloopers either need to be worked out or given to a more capable network.

Sullivangate · Post by **Sullivangate** » 22 Apr 2011, 01:46

The reason is because the director got hired grom TNT's NASCAR coverage and he's not used to covering racing on different road courses.

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 22 Apr 2011, 08:18

Kudos to the former Honda GP and Mercedes GP test driver Mike Conway for getting back to victory lane in yet another racing series. Once he was past former Toyota GP Friday driver Ryan Briscoe, it was amazing to watch him pull open a large gap.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 22 Apr 2011, 09:02

Sullivangate wrote:The reason is because the director got hired grom TNT's NASCAR coverage and he's not used to covering racing on different road courses.

That dill could barely cover an oval race! What makes you think he could cover a road course race?! This is the same guy that missed a fairly massive smash on the last lap of the Watkins Glen NASCAR Cup race last year! TNT's crap coverage of NASCAR is second only to the horrendous JOKE that ESPN brings to NASCAR's coverage!

Rocks with Salt · Post by **Rocks with Salt** » 22 Apr 2011, 13:35

Cynon wrote:
Sullivangate wrote:The reason is because the director got hired grom TNT's NASCAR coverage and he's not used to covering racing on different road courses.

That dill could barely cover an oval race! What makes you think he could cover a road course race?! This is the same guy that missed a fairly massive smash on the last lap of the Watkins Glen NASCAR Cup race last year! TNT's crap coverage of NASCAR is second only to the horrendous JOKE that ESPN brings to NASCAR's coverage!

This man gets it.

MansellsEyebrows · Post by **MansellsEyebrows** » 22 Apr 2011, 17:57

I think it is pretty obvious EJ Viso would be hailed in this forum had he ever entered F1.

Lizardfolk · Post by **Lizardfolk** » 25 Apr 2011, 23:00

Hey guys, I wrote a reject article detailing Danica Patrick's current career so far here: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/blogs/ ... ports-icon

Any thoughts and or comments would be appreciated

Thanks

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 25 Apr 2011, 23:20

i think it's spot on.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 29 Apr 2011, 19:37

Superb avatar Cynon! If there ever was an example of bias by a team owner towards a driver; Andretti Autosport wins it by keeping Marco in the team when he is way short on talent compared to the others in his team. And Viso in the Indycars is bad enough; supposing Kolles had allowed Viso to drive on a regular basis in F1 and not just test drive on a friday back in 06...New Yuji Ide! I think instead of a nosecone F1 championship we should be starting a 'lets see how many drivers EJ Viso crashes into' chart. Already victims are Simona, Hinch, Danica (and thats just in the last 2 races!

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 29 Apr 2011, 20:58

Former A1GP driver for Team USA (and Indy 500 winner) Buddy Rice as signed with Panther Racing for this year's Indy 500. Panther still is a top team on the ovals as they have shown at the end of last year.

So by now, no less than 3 former Team USA drivers of A1GP will be competing at the Indy 500, the other 2 being Marco Andretti and Charlie Kimball. Let's not forget Graham Rahal tried A1GP, too, at one point.

But where are Jonathan Summerton and Phil Giebler?

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 29 Apr 2011, 21:46

Yannick wrote:Former A1GP driver for Team USA (and Indy 500 winner) Buddy Rice as signed with Panther Racing for this year's Indy 500. Panther still is a top team on the ovals as they have shown at the end of last year.

So by now, no less than 3 former Team USA drivers of A1GP will be competing at the Indy 500, the other 2 being Marco Andretti and Charlie Kimball. Let's not forget Graham Rahal tried A1GP, too, at one point.

But where are Jonathan Summerton and Phil Giebler?

Giebler ran the Indy 500 in 2007 for Playa Del Racing and won Rookie of the Year due to outperforming Milka Duno. He attempted to qualify again in 2008 but crashed in practice. He has not attempted Indy since.

Summerton has never started or attempted an IRL race. He was last seen in Indy Lights and was replaced by legendary noob driver Dan Clarke. Should say enough.

Speaking of Indy Lights, I remember someone wanted me to keep track of one Anders Krohn -- his Indy Lights results have been 5th at St. Petersburg, 9th at Barber, and 8th at Long Beach, leaving him 8th in points.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 29 Apr 2011, 21:56

What's wrog with Speedy Dan? Apart from taking out Dominguez at Cleveland 06', he's a pretty neat racer who is at least as deserving of his chance as say, Viso or James Jakes.

On another note, with the Indy 500 field hugely oversubscribed for this year, who does everyone reckon may not make the race?

My nominations are Davey Hamilton, John Andretti, Jay Howard, Buddy Rice (when was the last time he raced anything?) and whoever drives for Team China; especially if it is Ho Pin Tung!

And am I right in thinking Wade Cunningham woun't be doing Indy but will be doing Texas and Vegas?

Yannick · Post by **Yannick** » 01 May 2011, 10:26

Well, I'm pretty certain Buddy Rice will get up to speed and make it into the field since he is driving for oval specialists Panther Racing who are the only original IRL team that has been able to race the "big 3" of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti/Green for a win, despite not having made it yet.

Bump day is going to be very interesting with so many drivers trying to get into the field. Last year, Paul Tracy did not exactly cover himself in glory on that day. For this year, he has moved to Dreyer & Reinbold for a one-off. Who knows if that is enough to make it in? The replacement driver that his team Dragon Racing has picked for the Indy 500 is none other than CHINESE F1 IDOL *da da, da da, da da!!!* Ho-Pin Tung! I feel that's a pretty risky choice for this year, given the strong competition. Eric Bachelaert's Conquest Racing are also hiring a rookie for a one-off, Pippa Mann, from IndyLights. Jay Howard is back again, this time with a team combination of Sam Schmidt (relatively successful at Indy in previous partnerships with Ganassi) and Rahal Letterman Lanigan (have been doing OK since only making Indy one-offs in the series). Jay has yet to make the field despite attempting it at least twice before. The other Rahal driver is Bertrand Baguette who qualified surprisingly well for Conquest last year. I guess he will make it in this year as well.
Davey Hamilton who will enter with Dreyer & Reinbold as well should really stick to his job in the commentary team because he is very good at that. Why does he still feel he needs to go racing? I miss his commentary on the feed of the IMS radio network every time he is in the car. Rookie James Jakes performance is likely to have something to do with who his team mate will be at Dale Coyne. I can only hope Dale hires Alex Lloyd again for the ovals because he did get the team some results last year and he can do that again this year.

John Andretti is with his cousin's team again. That's a good team so he will probably make the field. Foyt Racing's one-off starter will be Bruno Junqueira who has been known as a master of Indy qualifying over the last few years. He surely will make it in as well. Panther driver and rookie JR Hildebrand needs to get his act together, having been largely at the back of the field in the previous road races. Having an oval specialist like Buddy Rice as his team mate surely will give him an example to learn from. But will he make the field? Who knows?
Ana Beatriz Figuereido has always seemed to me rather like an oval specialist than a road racer so she will probably make it in. I'm a little more worried about well-known road racing specialists maybe not making it in such as Justin Wilson or Ryan Hunter-Reay who won the last spot on the grid in the bump day drama 2 years ago for Vision Racing.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 01 May 2011, 16:26

Rain
Concrete Start Straight
Painted First Run off Areas.
Double Wide Start

=

All your noobs are belong to us.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 01 May 2011, 17:11

THIS HAS BEEN THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN MOTORSPORT.

15 SPINS AND CRASHES IN THE FIRST 8 LAPS.

FFS, IndyCar. You need to stop holding races in the rainforest during the rainy season at the time of day when there is a 110% chance of FLOODING.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 01 May 2011, 17:21

JohnMLTX wrote:THIS HAS BEEN THE GREATEST ROSE TINTED SPECTACLE IN MOTORSPORT.

Fixed

shinji · Post by **shinji** » 01 May 2011, 17:49

Of course I choose this to be my first live Indycar race. Sky Sports filler is pretty much unbearable.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 01 May 2011, 18:07

shinji wrote:Of course I choose this to be my first live Indycar race. Sky Sports filler is pretty much unbearable.

Not as bad as versus. 20 minutes of Danica interviews and counting; clips from damn near every day ever run at Indy with Robin Miller ranting in the background, and random commercials.

EDIT: Finally, the cars are rolling again. 2 hours under red...

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 01 May 2011, 20:17

OK, with the race getting red-flagged AGAIN and postponed to tomorrow, I feel we may need to give this one the 2011 Bahrain GP treatment.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 01 May 2011, 20:47

jpm wrote:What's wrog with Speedy Dan? Apart from taking out Dominguez at Cleveland 06', he's a pretty neat racer who is at least as deserving of his chance as say, Viso or James Jakes.

Anyone who causes a multi-car pileup in practice on a track that isn't an oval, causes dumb collisions when they're 15 laps down, makes the rest of the Champ Car field in 2006-2007 look like clean drivers, and causes dumb collisions under the safety car all in the space of two years earns the title of Supreme Noob Driver.

JohnMLTX wrote:OK, with the race getting red-flagged AGAIN and postponed to tomorrow, I feel we may need to give this one the 2011 Bahrain GP treatment.

...overreacting much?

ADx_Wales wrote:Rain
Concrete Start Straight
Painted First Run off Areas.
Double Wide Start

=

All your noobs are belong to us.

All you missed was how much of a deathtrap turn 1 is, other then that, spot on right there. Let's not forget that even in the dry this track wouldn't be much better. Hello dust!

However, decrepit tracks like this are what make for some interesting racing.

rffp · Post by **rffp** » 01 May 2011, 22:34

An in loco report of the farce.

It was 1998 when I last saw a race on track. I saw Mika Hakkinen cruise to this 3rd victory in Interlagos back then and abstained myself from tracks since then. This year, I decided to end the drought. As IndyCar is clawing its way out of the hole, I decided to give them a chance. The SP Indy 300 seemed like an event which wouldn't be so crowded as the Brazilian GP and easier to go since the Anhembi track is next to downtown, whereas Interlagos is far away from anywhere.

I went to the Anhembi sambadrome on Saturday under a scorching sun. It is obviously not designed for a motor racing event. The visibility of the track is mediocre at best, but two big screens were installed near my bleachers and I got to see the action. However, Anhembi has a good infrastructure by Brazilian standards. The overpriced food is actually good, the bathrooms are decent and the personnel is well trained and courteous.

It was fun to hear again the loud noise of an open wheel car engine and see some actually pretty good drivers racing. But it was Saturday that I heard that the weather forecast was rain for mid-race. Anyway, I woke up early this Sunday, met with my friend and his girlfriend and caught a bus to the track. We arrived there early, by mid-warmup practice, and were able to sit under a roof. The stands were half empty, such as Saturday, by late morning but the spirits were up and people were arriving. By 11:00, there was a considerable crowd in Anhembi and the mood was excellent as people were hoping for either Helio or Tony to perform well, despite not being able to identify one quarter of the participants. The drivers paraded through the main straight, Emerson Fittipaldi made himself present and jet fighters stormed above us, and we had high expectations for the race.

And by the drivers parade, the rain clouds that by early morning were brewing in the west finally arrived over the Anhembi track. And the rain started. But all of us were undaunted and anxious to see the action. Well the first start was a party-killer. Three of the most popular and charismatic drivers were taken out by the first curve, and TK was out of action too. A bitter disappointment. But we didn't know things would get only worse from there.

The restart came, and the rain was heavier, and despite the first curve incidents, the race carried on. We were trying to decide if we rooted for our fellow drivers stuck in the back or we if we rooted for Takuma! But as Vitor Meira spun and crashed we knew it was a matter of time for the red flag, and it came sure and swift. By then, lightning and thunder were present and it was quite understandble for the suspension of the race.

1/2 hour went by and the rain decreased intensity, but it was there. I awaited to see the cars come back to action but they were in the garage. Definitely not a good sign. As the hours went by, the crowd's mood was harshly altered. We were at first frustrated, and by 3:30 we were angry. We jeered at the pace car and the officials. Some spectators had already left the track, wise people I reckon. By 16:00, the screens no longer showed the pit and garage situation, instead it displayed the local football derby between Corinthians and Palmeiras.

Finally, the drivers came out of the garage and got into formation. Our moods were a bit up again, but I knew that the chance for the race not to happen was high. It would only take another accident for a littany of yellow flags. The farce was soon discovered as the rain intensified again and another red flag was shown. We felt cheated at the end of the day.

Who is to blame for what happened? The weather? Hardly!

This is São Paulo, it is known for heavy summer rains, which occur even in shoulder months. There is no excuse for not previewing rain. Last year, it was a near miracle to actually produce a race in such short time. But his year, our local prefecture had more than 1 year to prepare a decent show, and it failed. The rain was not heavy, but it was constant. And the Anhembi track drainage system showed all of its flaws.

IndyCar racing is notorious for aversion to rain to the point of ridiculousness. If it doesn't like to run under such conditions, either schedule races only for Arizona, Death Valley, Atacama desert and Abu Dhabi or get ready for wet races. Texas 2001 came to my mind.

The damage is done. People do not care much for high g-forces or faulty tires, they paid, prepared themselves for such event and are right to demand to see a decent show. I was in 1991 and 1993 to the Brazilian GP under rain, and in 1993 also saw a Formula 3 race under rain where Helio wound up in 2nd. I know there are security concerns, but I felt that IndyCar cowered up.

IndyCar may not be at the bottom of the well, but it is not exactly out of the well. So it has to avoid at all costs such blunders. If they didn't learny any lessons from the 2010 race, they will learn now the hard way. São Paulo and Brazil will also suffer from the bad publicity too, deservingly. Either we learn to host such events with credibility or we will make ourselves fool in 2014 and 2016.

Those who will suffer are the guys who need to drive to work by the Anhembi vicinities and find the traffic clogged by early morning.

I just hope to be reimbursed or receive a ticket for 2012, if we host another race in the Anhembi track again.

Frustrating...

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 01 May 2011, 22:40

According to certain rumours, there are to be 2 rounds in brazil next year!!

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 01 May 2011, 23:34

rffp wrote:This is São Paulo, it is known for heavy summer rains, which occur even in shoulder months. There is no excuse for not previewing rain. Last year, it was a near miracle to actually produce a race in such short time. But his year, our local prefecture had more than 1 year to prepare a decent show, and it failed. The rain was not heavy, but it was constant. And the Anhembi track drainage system showed all of its flaws.

IndyCar racing is notorious for aversion to rain to the point of ridiculousness. If it doesn't like to run under such conditions, either schedule races only for Arizona, Death Valley, Atacama desert and Abu Dhabi or get ready for wet races.

In all fairness, the IRL's rain tire is not all that great, and I think the last thing the series wants is another crashfest -- there's been two of them already -- can't be the best publicity for them either.

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 02 May 2011, 00:27

The last time they only had a letter of intent for a race less than 2 years off was the never-realized Indy Grand Prix of Turks and Caicos on Grand Turk. The track was never even built.

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 02 May 2011, 00:38

JohnMLTX wrote:The last time they only had a letter of intent for a race less than 2 years off was the never-realized Indy Grand Prix of Turks and Caicos on Grand Turk. The track was never even built.

Um, Champ Car in South Korea and China... and later, the Phoenix Champ Car race in 2007 that was forcibly closed by NASCAR?

JohnMLTX · Post by **JohnMLTX** » 02 May 2011, 01:51

Cynon wrote:
JohnMLTX wrote:The last time they only had a letter of intent for a race less than 2 years off was the never-realized Indy Grand Prix of Turks and Caicos on Grand Turk. The track was never even built.

Um, Champ Car in South Korea and China... and later, the Phoenix Champ Car race in 2007 that was forcibly closed by NASCAR?

Turks and Caicos signed the agreement in 2008 to race in 2009 after reunification.

Korea and China both had several agreements drawn up for races back as far as 2004/2005, and each had over 2.5 years of work before the first scheduled race. Phoenix also had quite a bit of planning, and got past the conceptual/letter of intent stage before it got axed, IIRC. The guy running it was also running the Vegas grand prix.

EDIT: Here's from Turks & Caicos' Website

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 02 May 2011, 02:22

Hmm, how did I never hear about this? From the sound of things... big heap of publicocrap.

rffp · Post by **rffp** » 02 May 2011, 08:56

Cynon wrote:
rffp wrote:This is São Paulo, it is known for heavy summer rains, which occur even in shoulder months. There is no excuse for not previewing rain. Last year, it was a near miracle to actually produce a race in such short time. But his year, our local prefecture had more than 1 year to prepare a decent show, and it failed. The rain was not heavy, but it was constant. And the Anhembi track drainage system showed all of its flaws.

IndyCar racing is notorious for aversion to rain to the point of ridiculousness. If it doesn't like to run under such conditions, either schedule races only for Arizona, Death Valley, Atacama desert and Abu Dhabi or get ready for wet races.

In all fairness, the IRL's rain tire is not all that great, and I think the last thing the series wants is another crashfest -- there's been two of them already -- can't be the best publicity for them either.

If their rain tire is not great, then they shouldn't race where it rains, or at least move the race to June-August, since the winter here is awfully dry.

EDIT: I just read that the fans will not be reimbursed. Well, next year we will probably not be at the track.

jpm · Post by **jpm** » 02 May 2011, 09:15

Korean GP 2010 anyone?

Yannick wrote:Well, I'm pretty certain Buddy Rice will get up to speed and make it into the field since he is driving for oval specialists Panther Racing who are the only original IRL team that has been able to race the "big 3" of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti/Green for a win, despite not having made it yet.

Bump day is going to be very interesting with so many drivers trying to get into the field. Last year, Paul Tracy did not exactly cover himself in glory on that day. For this year, he has moved to Dreyer & Reinbold for a one-off. Who knows if that is enough to make it in? The replacement driver that his team Dragon Racing has picked for the Indy 500 is none other than CHINESE F1 IDOL *da da, da da, da da!!!* Ho-Pin Tung! I feel that's a pretty risky choice for this year, given the strong competition. Eric Bachelaert's Conquest Racing are also hiring a rookie for a one-off, Pippa Mann, from IndyLights. Jay Howard is back again, this time with a team combination of Sam Schmidt (relatively successful at Indy in previous partnerships with Ganassi) and Rahal Letterman Lanigan (have been doing OK since only making Indy one-offs in the series). Jay has yet to make the field despite attempting it at least twice before. The other Rahal driver is Bertrand Baguette who qualified surprisingly well for Conquest last year. I guess he will make it in this year as well.
Davey Hamilton who will enter with Dreyer & Reinbold as well should really stick to his job in the commentary team because he is very good at that. Why does he still feel he needs to go racing? I miss his commentary on the feed of the IMS radio network every time he is in the car. Rookie James Jakes performance is likely to have something to do with who his team mate will be at Dale Coyne. I can only hope Dale hires Alex Lloyd again for the ovals because he did get the team some results last year and he can do that again this year.

John Andretti is with his cousin's team again. That's a good team so he will probably make the field. Foyt Racing's one-off starter will be Bruno Junqueira who has been known as a master of Indy qualifying over the last few years. He surely will make it in as well. Panther driver and rookie JR Hildebrand needs to get his act together, having been largely at the back of the field in the previous road races. Having an oval specialist like Buddy Rice as his team mate surely will give him an example to learn from. But will he make the field? Who knows?
Ana Beatriz Figuereido has always seemed to me rather like an oval specialist than a road racer so she will probably make it in. I'm a little more worried about well-known road racing specialists maybe not making it in such as Justin Wilson or Ryan Hunter-Reay who won the last spot on the grid in the bump day drama 2 years ago for Vision Racing.

Just a quick reminder, Vison was managed by Tony George so thats why he used to be so terrible! Dark horse; Ed Carpenter for SFR anyone?

rffp · Post by **rffp** » 02 May 2011, 10:40

And the situation today here in SP does not look any better. The skies are gray and rain is imminent.