{"id":31764,"date":"2025-03-20T14:22:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T18:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=31764"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:23:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T18:23:36","slug":"indycar-thermal-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/20\/indycar-thermal-club\/","title":{"rendered":"IndyCar Thermal Club: Schedule, Predictions, And How To Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IndyCar makes its way to The Thermal Club for the season&#8217;s second race. Prepare for Sunday\u2019s race with all the important details you need to know before the green flag waves.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Round 2: The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix Preview<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IndyCar is returning to Thermal for the second consecutive year, but this time there are significant changes. Unlike last year,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">there is no longer<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/26\/indycar-thermal-club-million-dollar-disaster\/\" target=\"_self\"> $1 Million<\/a> at stake, instead, it will now be a regular points-paying race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year\u2019s event was an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/24\/thermal-club-challenge-indycars-failed-experiment\/\" target=\"_self\">IndyCar experiment gone wrong<\/a> so these changes were necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Race Highlights | 2024 The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge | INDYCAR\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ykYscjWVfrY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Track: Thermal Club<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thermal Club is a 17-turn 3.067-mile (4.82-km) natural terrain <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/17\/indycar-101-the-2025-tracks\/\" target=\"_self\">road course<\/a> that consists of sweepers, tight corners, long straightaways, and elevation changes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The surface tends to be abrasive due to the dust accumulating in the region. The turn 16-17 section has been repaved and leveled to help prevent damage and potentially help with tire deg.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In last year&#8217;s race, as drivers approached the Turn 16-17 section, they hit the crest and curbing, which sent their cars airborne before they landed and made a sharp right turn onto the start\/finish straight.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Race Preview<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This race will be all about tire management and team strategy. Making it a challenge for both the team and the driver.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The track at Thermal takes a toll on the primary<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/24\/indycar-101-the-indycar\/\" target=\"_self\"> Firestone Firehawk tires. <\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was evident last year in the 20-lap race. Drivers were limited to a single set of tires which was a recipe for disaster. The drivers chose to drive slower to preserve their tires for essentially a 10-lap shootout, as many had encountered challenges during testing after the first 10 laps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year the race is 65 laps, and there will be tire changes but the fuel load figures may last longer than the tires, especially with the expected warm temperatures making for an entertaining race.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Drivers to Watch<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After winning the opening race in St. Pete, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/03\/02\/alex-palou-continues-his-winning-ways-on-the-streets-of-st-pete\/\" target=\"_self\">Alex Palou<\/a> returns as the obvious favorite to win The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix this Sunday as he won the exhibition race from the pole last year. Here are other drivers to watch out for<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Louis Foster<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rookies&#8217; IndyCar debut at St. Pete was less than a dream and more like a nightmare after he collected in a first-lap crash between Nolan Siegel and Will Power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He is for sure going to be hungry to get going this weekend at Thermal, a track he has already been on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Nov. 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/31\/louis-fosters-junior-career-lead-him-to-rll-racing\/\" target=\"_self\">Louis<\/a> drove 70 laps around the Twin Palms course as part of testing with RLL Racing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.desertsun.com\/story\/sports\/2024\/11\/19\/indycar-return-to-the-thermal-club-a-compliment-to-desert-track-founder-says\/76408808007\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Foster<\/a> dedicated the test to learning the skills required for racing situations, such as fuel efficiency, tire management, and hybrid power systems. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hopefully, they can take things he learned about the track, the car, and the progress they\u2019ve made into the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/31\/louis-fosters-junior-career-lead-him-to-rll-racing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Introducing Louis Foster: RLL\u2019s Rookie Driver for 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Scott Dixon<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dixon aims to make a comeback, not just from the season&#8217;s opening race where a radio issue enabled his teammate Palou to overtake him for the lead, but also from last year&#8217;s event where he was knocked out before the All-Star Race.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The track is a cheese grater for the tires so they and the race need to be well managed and Dixon\u2019s skill in adjusting in the cockpit is unmatched.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anything can happen in this race, particularly with the unpredictability of the tires, making it possible for a surprise winner. Last year, Felix Rosenqvist began in second place and secured a third-place finish in the exhibition race. Could this be the moment the Swede claims his second victory?<\/p>\n<h3><b>How to watch<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <strong>First Practice<\/strong> will take place on <strong>Friday, March 21st, at 6:30 PM Eastern<\/strong>. <strong>Saturday<\/strong> will see the drivers take to the track for second practice and qualifying. <strong>Practice session 2 is at 1:00 PM Eastern, and qualifying is at 5:00 PM Eastern<\/strong>. The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix takes place on <strong>Sunday, March 23rd<\/strong>, at 3 pm Eastern. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>The coverage will be on Fox<\/b>. <strong style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All practice sessions, qualifying, and the Sunday warm-up will be aired on FS1.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Stay tuned to Last Word on Motorsports for all the news from the second round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Featured Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Chris Owens, 3\/24\/24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IndyCar makes its way to The Thermal Club for the season&#8217;s second race. Prepare for Sunday\u2019s race with all the important details you need to know before the green flag waves. Round 2: The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix Preview IndyCar is returning to Thermal for the second consecutive year, but this time there are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5307,"featured_media":31772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1663],"tags":[1600,184,2510,169,2509],"class_list":["post-31764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","category-ntt-indycar-series","tag-alex-palou","tag-felix-rosenqvist","tag-louis-foster","tag-scott-dixon","tag-the-thermal-club"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31764"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31773,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31764\/revisions\/31773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}