NASCAR's Chicago Rain Reminiscent of Notre Dame Football's 2011 Season-Opening Debacle

The idea of a makeshift NASCAR track through the streets of downtown Chicago is pretty cool. It's like the 90's arcade/Nintendo 64 game Cruis'n USA but with real race cars with the nation's best skyline serving as the backdrop.

2023 was the first time the event went down and although the weather didn't cooperate that day either, there were still compelling moments to give hope for what the event could be.

The 2024 event was supposed to be different but instead Mother Nature again decided to reck havoc.

Felt Like Watching Notre Dame Football's 2011 Season-Opener

Year one of the Brian Kelly got underway with a shaky start. After beating Purdue to start the year, Notre Dame lost three-straight games. They fought their way through most of October but after being upset at home on Halloween weekend by Tulsa, a bowl game was anything but a certainty.

Kelly and Notre Dame would surprisingly win out by beating a top-15 Utah team, winning at USC for the first time since 2000, and boat-racing Miami (FL) in the Sun Bowl. The close to 2010 set the stage for 2011 to be something special - until a strange weather day in South Bend quickly sent that off the rails.

Things started great for Notre Dame in the 2011 opener against South Florida. The Irish, a 14-point favorite, marched the length of the field on the opening possession and were about to punch it into the endzone to take an early touchdown lead. Instead, a goal line fumble was picked up by South Florida and returned 96-yards for a touchdown to give the Bulls a surprising early 7-0 lead.

Notre Dame's offense would sputter and found themselves down 13-0 when another drive got the Irish within striking zone of the end zone. Instead of finishing the drive however, Dayne Crist threw an interception and South Florida turned the Irish away.

Lightning Delays Game, Empties Notre Dame Stadium

A late-summer thunderstorm entered the area and forced the game to be delayed. Notre Dame had gotten off to a slow enough start on their own and the delay certainly didn't help matters.

Following the delay there would be signs of life from Notre Dame but more self-inflicted harm.

Future Notre Dame and Alabama offensive playcaller Tommy Rees would throw a red-zone interception after coming off the bench.

2012 Notre Dame hero Theo Riddick would muff a punt, giving South Florida possession on a short field.

Notre Dame would out-gain South Florida 508-254 but lose the turnover battle 5-0 and lose the game 23-20. What was supposed to be a great start to 2011 wound up with one of the most embarrassing losses in the long history of Notre Dame Stadium.

NASCAR Pulls a Notre Dame

While Notre Dame couldn't hold onto the football that Saturday afternoon, NASCAR officials seemingly couldn't read a radar. After Sunday's race had to be red-flagged due to significant thunderstorms, the command to refire engines came at 6:39 p.m. CT. Below is what the local radar looked like at that very moment:

Shocking to nobody with at least one functioning eyeball, the command to stop those freshly restarted engines came a minute later.

Both NASCAR and Notre Dame Got In Own Ways, Bounced Back

The weather played a big part in telling the story on Sunday as it did back on Sept. 3, 2011 when Notre Dame fell on its face against South Florida.

As much as the weather didn't help things, both got in their own ways at times on those respective days.

Notre Dame couldn't hold onto the football while NASCAR couldn't read a radar.

NASCAR bounced back on Sunday and after the weather finally cleared, put on quite the show. A timed finish due to impending darkness meant racing against a literal clock and Tyler Reddick, who was driving a Michael Jordan themed-car through the streets of Chicago nearly pulled of an epic comeback before a brush with the wall on the race's final lap. Despite the weather, a pretty good show was still put on.

Notre Dame on the other hand would dominate Michigan in the Big House for roughly 55-minutes a week later before again suffering one of the most epic late collapses in program history. The Irish would finish the year 8-5 despite the brutal start and set the stage for a 2012 that saw an unbeaten regular season and berth in the BCS national championship game.

What will NASCAR's third-year in Chicago hold?

Or will there even be one?

Time will tell but despite the weather, maybe we shouldn't shut the door on the idea just yet.