IndyCar drivers take on a new challenge Sunday for the Thermal $1 Million Challenge, a non-points, big-money exhibition in California
The IndyCar Series takes a break from racing for points on Sunday, instead racing for cold, hard cash at the Thermal $1 Million Challenge at the Thermal Club in California’s Coachella Valley. The exhibition offers a different format for drivers, with two heat races followed by the 20-lap dash for the cash. Among the oddities of the race at the private country club: No live pit stops, no caution laps that count, an intermission and refueling of the cars. The winner gets $500,000, with $350,000 for second place, $250,000 for third, $100,000 for fourth and $50,000 for fifth. The rest of the field pockets $23,000 apiece. It’s the first non-points race on the IndyCar Series since 2008 and the first race-for-cash event since the Marlboro Challenge was on the schedule from 1987-92.
How to Watch Thermal $1 Million Challenge in IndyCar Racing Today:
Race Date: March 24, 2024
Race Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live stream the IndyCar Series Thermal $1 Million Challenge on Fubo: Start your free trial today!
The layout is a 3.067-mile permanent road course with 19 turns. The heat races will trim the field from 27 drivers to 12 for the “all-star” race and the $1.756 million purse is the largest in IndyCar outside of the Indianapolis 500.
The drivers did open testing on Friday and Saturday, with Felix Rosenqvist posting the top lap in Group 1 and Álex Palou topping Group 2 with the fastest lap of the sessions at 112.017 mph.
Josef Newgarden topped the podium at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10, with Pato O’Ward second and Scott McLaughlin third. The IndyCar Series returns to its conventional format for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21.
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