Mike Brudenell

USA TODAY Sports

DETROIT -- The ducks may have liked the foul weather this week on Belle Isle, but it raised an alarm with Roger Penske.

When the Raceway on Belle Isle sprung a leak Tuesday, it was all hands on deck at the orders of Penske, the man behind the revival of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.

The heavy rains Tuesday and into Wednesday caused a water main to burst under the race track, which is scheduled to go green on Friday morning as cars practice, qualify and race in this year's "Chevy Indy Dual in Detroit" Verizon IndyCar Series event and the associated support races.

"We woke here the other morning and a water main had burst and caused the track to buckle between Turns 13 and 14," revealed Penske at Wednesday's Quicken Loans Grand Prix Street Fest powered by Chevrolet at Campus Martius. "The last couple days, we had to dig about 80 feet (of track out) between 13 and 14 and repave it. I thought we were done with the track, but Mother Nature jumps in and gives us a load of water."

Workers under the direction of Penske and Grand Prix chairman Bud Denker toiled through the night Tuesday and into Wednesday to fix the problem.

"It was on the racing line, but we poured in asphalt and sealed it," Penske said. "We finished up yesterday and today. We have enough time for it to cure."

In 2012, the Belle Isle track broke up during the GP and the event was stopped for almost two hours while Denker and his team put it back together so the race could finish.

The track was repaired and extended for last year's IndyCar doubleheader, and all went smoothly. There are plans now to replace all the old concrete on the 2.3-mile race course for 2015 at a cost of over $4 million.

Brudenell writes for the Detroit Free Press.