Rain is enemy No. 1 to AMA Grand National racing. It’s really scary to think about how often a Grand National raceday is affected by rain in one form or fashion. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at a Grand National, fired up radar on my laptop, or nowadays on my Blackberry, and see a small pop-up thunderstorm all by its lonesome heading straight for the track.

This past Tuesday in Rapid City (the race is staged during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in case you’re wonder why a Tuesday night) it was another stormy night. This one was a small, but powerful thunderstorm that somehow found its way to Black Hills Speedway, ending the night’s proceedings after the Heat races.

Rain is so common at the Grand Nationals that a joke says that if a region is suffering drought all farmers have to do to get relief is to pitch in and promote a Grand National (I didn’t say it was a funny joke).

There is nothing racing officials can do about the weather. It’s just one of the things fans, racers, promoters and officials have to live with. There is something the AMA/DMG can do however and that’s come up with a standard rain plan that applies to every national. As one famous road racing journalist puts it, it’s the “Big Mac Theory” of racing. Riders and fans have the right to know what to expect if rain puts an end to a national.

To me these rules should be implemented and applied to every national. If a promoter cannot live with the “rain schedule” then they don’t get a national, plain and simple.

Now I understand it’s easy for me to say, I’m not the one putting up the bucks to promote a Grand National, and promoters of flat track races are hard to come by these days. But I feel even the promoters would feel better if they knew exactly what the plan of action was ahead of time should rain hit their event.

As it stands now it goes something like this: rain hits, the promoter and the AMA official huddle and try to negotiate a plan that everyone can live with. The plan they came up with at Rapid City was to cancel the race. There was no way a race was going to run that night. Heat races were complete so fans were offered no refund. Riders went away with half the purse. It was a “Lose-Lose” situation.

To me the formula is simple. Saturday night rainouts should be rescheduled for Sunday. If it rains again Sunday then the race is canceled or reschedule for later in the year. Sunday rainouts should be rescheduled for later in the year. If refunds aren’t possible at least fans should be given rain checks for the rain date or rescheduled date.

If the fans knew the score coming into a race weekend they would be a lot less prone to feel burnt by a rainout.

Come on AMA/DMG. Make it happen. Formulate a standardized rain policy.