There will be no championship implications for the NTT IndyCar Series this weekend, but major cash is up for grabs in the $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club in Southern California.
The March 24 exhibition event (the first for IndyCar since Surfers Paradise, Australia in 2008) will feature a purse of $1.756 million, the largest for an IndyCar race outside of the Indy 500 in the past 20 years.
In an all star-style format, the winner of the Sprint for the Purse will receive $500,000. Saturday’s two heat races (used for the first time by IndyCar since 2013) will set the 12-car field for Sunday’s 20-lap main event (which also will feature a halftime break).
The Thermal Club is a 490-acre property near Palm Springs that has been billed as a motorsports country club of sorts.
IndyCar held a preseason test last year on the 17-turn, 3-mile road course with Colton Herta, Marcus Ericsson and Christian Lundgaard among the fastest drivers over four sessions. But with several fresh driver and team combinations for the 2024 IndyCar season (as well as cars that are 25 pounds lighter), there will be many new variables for this weekend in the desert.
Despite no points at stake, this will mark the second race weekend of the IndyCar season. Josef Newgarden won the season opener as Chevrolets dominated the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
The next points race will be the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21.
Here are the details for IndyCar’s $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club (all times are ET):
THERMAL $1 MILLION CHALLENGE START TIMES
TV: Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2024.
Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for nearly 10 hours of testing and qualifying Friday and Saturday. (Click here for information on how to sign up for Peacock.)
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:29 p.m. ET for Heat Race 1; 1:03 p.m. ET for Heat Race 2; 1:52 p.m. ET for the Sprint for the Purse main event
GREEN FLAG: 12:36 p.m. ET for Heat Race 1; 1:10 p.m. ET for Heat Race 2; 1:59 p.m. ET for the Sprint for the Purse main event
TEST SESSIONS: Friday, noon-2 p.m. ET, 5-8 p.m. ET, (Peacock); Saturday, noon-2 p.m. ET 4-7 p.m. ET (Peacock)
QUALIFYING: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (Peacock)
RACE FORMAT: Two groups of qualifying Saturday will set the field for two 10-lap heat races Sunday.
The top six finishers in each heat race will advance to the Sprint for the Purse, a 20-lap main event with a halftime break. Caution laps won’t count in any of the races. Click here for more details on the race format.
RACE PURSE: $1.756 million, the largest in IndyCar outside the Indy 500 in the past 20 years. First place: $500,000; Second: $350,000; Third: $250,000; Fourth: $100,000; Fifth: $50,000; Sixth through 27th: $23,000 each.
PUSH TO PASS: Drivers will receive 40 seconds of push to pass in each heat, and those advancing also will receive 40 seconds in each segment during the Sprint for the Purse.
Drivers also will have push to pass for the last practice session and for qualifying. The push to pass feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.
FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 60 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the green flag for the first heat race.
$1 MILLION CHALLENGE WEEKEND SCHEDULE
(All times are Eastern)
Friday, March 22
Noon- 2 p.m.: IndyCar test, Session I (Peacock)
5-8 p.m.: IndyCar test, Session II (Peacock)
Saturday, March 23
Noon-2 p.m.: IndyCar test, Session III (Peacock)
4-6 p.m.: IndyCar test, Session IV (Peacock)
8-8:45 p.m.: Qualifying in two groups (Peacock)
Sunday, March 24
12:30-3 p.m.: The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge, two heat races and the Sprint for the Purse main event (NBC, Peacock)
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