Ryan: NASCAR endures another storm cloud with long delay

When it rains, it pours — particularly when you don't have the best available mop for cleaning up the mess.

NASCAR learned that the hard way Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, site of the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener that was expected to wash away the lingering taint from a scandal that left NASCAR embroiled in its most high-profile crisis since the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500.

Instead, it was the Geico 400 that was in jeopardy of being washed away — leaving stock-car racing to twist for another full day in the throes of a controversy that left NBC Nightly News asking if last Saturday's race at Richmond International Raceway had been rigged.

And just like the suspicious events surrounding the Chase cutoff race, there was something fishy here.

Where was Air Titan, the newfangled drying system that has been proven to remove moisture from tracks as much as 80% faster than the antiquated method of using jet dryers to blow hot air?

On a day that the diesel-powered air-compression contraption could have served as savior by ensuring an official finish at a reasonable hour in one of the sport's biggest races.

This was the coup de grace of a week in which NASCAR was caught in the untenable position of making a host of unprecedented decisions as it scrambled to restore the credibility and integrity that was tarnished by team orders. Some of its proactive calls — such as banning digital communications with spotters and removing executives from the spotters stand — should be lauded for taking extraordinary steps toward trying to fix a serious problem.

As chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton said, the new objective was to run 100% all the time.

Unfortunately, the policy was implemented on the day of a 100% forecast for rain.

The race was stopped 25 laps — or roughly 15 minutes — short of the halfway point that makes it official. It started one hour and 20 minutes late.

It took two hours to dry the 1.5-mile oval (the race was red-flagged for 5 hours, 10 minutes). Air Titan surely would have cut at least 15 minutes and given NASCAR a chance to declare a winner.

The worst part? Anyone could have seen this coming. Despite being touted as a miracle-working game-changer since the preseason, Air Titan has become NASCAR's No. 1 political football this season as tracks have blanched at a varying cost that sometimes exceeds $100,000.

The absence of the Air Titan was especially conspicuous considering the smaller version of the system (used for track prep to clean the surface for a race weekend) was on property last Thursday. As of Sunday, NASCAR said Air Titan had been returned to its garage. A person who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to disclose the information said the track didn't include Air Titan in its budget.

Track president Scott Paddock called Air Titan "an exciting, emerging technology" but also "a work in progress" that the track elected not to use this year.

"It has the potential to be a great advancement for our sport," Paddock told USA TODAY Sports. "I think it could have been an option to have it. I think it's a work in progress. We actually brought in a higher complement of jet dryers. We stuck with the known commodity.

"I would think that the technology will continue to advance, and the R&D process will continue to develop. I'm confident that it will be rolled out en masse next year."

The pricetag for having Air Titan at Chicagoland? Apparently $50,000.

Who has that kind of money lying around in a sport that has announced $8.2 billion in long-term TV contracts over the past year?

No one wants a race decided before its scheduled distance, but if there ever was a Sprint Cup event when a muted finish would have been hailed as a victory, this was it.

NASCAR needed to wipe the past week from its memory banks. A race run cleanly and quickly would have gone a long way toward moving the storyline forward from whether Clint Bowyer intentionally spun his Toyota at Richmond to help teammate Martin Truex Jr., or if Penske Racing and Front Row Motorsports had conspired to cut a deal that ensured Joey Logano made the Chase.

Any victor would have been a compelling alternative to celebrate as NASCAR opened the 10-race title run that crowns its season.

Instead, the outcome was in doubt for more than five hours after the race was stopped and its resumption had been relegated to ESPN2. Matt Kenseth's win a few minutes after midnight ET — nearly 10 hours after the scheduled green flag — capped a race full of plot twists involving title contenders, but it likely will be forgotten amid Sunday's NFL drama.

As NASCAR signs its 2014 sanctioning agreements, it must make Air Titan a mandatory facet of hosting a Sprint Cup race just like SAFER barriers and care centers.

Just another lesson from NASCAR's longest week amid lots of storm clouds.