It’s race weekend once again for the NTT IndyCar Series. IndyCar is in California to race at The Thermal Club for the second consecutive year. Last year’s race was an exhibition with a million-dollar cash prize at stake. This year, however, the race counts towards the championship with all points up for grabs.
The First Exhibition Race in Over 10 Years was one to Remember, The 2024 Million Dollar Challenge at Thermal Club.
The Thermal race ran differently than other races on the calendar. The grid was split into two groups (referred to as heats). The top six drivers from each heat went on to compete for the cash prize in the final round.
Each heat consisted of 10 laps or 20 minutes of race time, racing under a caution didn’t count as a completed lap.
The final round was a 20-lap race with a 10-minute intermission during the halfway point for teams to refuel but they weren’t allowed to change the tires during this time.
Heat 1
The first heat got off to a chaotic start with a collision on the opening lap at turn one. Romain Grosjean made contact with Rinus Veekay taking both of them out of the race early on. The incident was caused in part by Scott Dixon who served a drive-through penalty.
Heat one also served as Nolan Siegel’s IndyCar debut. That weekend, he drove the No. 18 for Dale Coyne Racing.
The rest of the heat went smoothly with Siegel putting up a good fight against Colton Herta to try and gain that sixth-place spot to qualify for the final race. The top six at the end of the heat were: Rosenqvist, Mclaughlin, Lundgaard, Canapino, and Herta.
Heat 2
Heat two saw a lot of on-track action with all three Arrow McLaren drivers fighting for a spot within the top six. At the start of the heat, Alexander Rossi was in P6 with Pato O’Ward behind him and Callum Ilott in P9.
O’Ward and Rossi got close to making contact but both cars made it through heat two unscathed.
The heat was led by Alex Palou who maintained his lead for all ten laps.
The top six at the end of heat two were: Palou, Armstrong, Rahal, Lundqvist, Fittipaldi, and Rossi.
Final Race
The main focus of the first half of the race was tire management since there would be no opportunity to swap tires during the 10-minute break. Many of the drivers opted to slow down a bit to have their tires in optimal condition for the final ten laps.
Graham Rahal had an issue with his throttle sticking and ended up being a lap down by the end of the first half.
The second half saw a little more action than the first half. Rossi was gaining positions and made it up to P6. The bigger cash prizes were only awarded to the top five drivers.
There was near contact between Rossi and Newgarden, however, both cars managed to avoid any damage or mishaps on track.
Colton Herta was also someone who was making their way up the grid through the 12 remaining drivers.
All three Chip Ganassi drivers were in contention for the win but it was Alex Palou who won Thermal after starting from pole. This marked his second win of what became his third championship-winning season.
This year, Thermal Club is a points race, The IndyCar Thermal Club Grand Prix, on Sunday, March 23rd. Stay tuned to Last Word on Motorsports for all the news from the race.
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