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Recent forecasts indicate that the weather patterns crated by the unusually strong El Niño could lead to rain on Friday, andpossible thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday. There has never been a rain race at Long Beach if we are not mistaken, which could have teams struggle to adapt what they learned about racing through puddles in Detroit, Vancouver, or Toronto.
A threat of rain delay also exists. The rains associated with the El Niño this year have been at times very heavy, while drainage in the streets of sunny Long Beach possibly isn't as efficient as in a place like Portland. Last year, the race at Elkhart Lake was delayed due to heavy rain.
Rains could also affect race attendance in a big way (this is not Oregon where people live in their rain gear) - something the organizers of the event probably also never had to worry about in the past.
To keep an eye on the weather, check the Weather Channel from time to time.
In other news:
Ford published the g-forces measured by the Ford Blue Boxes in Rahal's and Zanardi's car at Motegi. Bobby Rahal's crashregistered 93.7 g's and Alex Zanardi's wreck earlier in the race clocked in at 'just' 33.8 g's. Ford Special Vehicle OperationTechnologies is using this data along with other critical information to create an impact simulation program to advance safety researchin CART.
Gualter Salles, who replaced Dennis Vitolo at the race in Motegi hopes to do the same at Rio. Vitolo doesn't have sponsorship for all races this season, and after Salles' 12th place finish in Japan, it can be assumed that Payton-Coyne Racing would be looking at the Brazilian to fill the #34 car's seat. Salles also hopes to run a few more races later in the season, possibly for Steve Horne who intends to field a second car later in the season. 
