A race meant for all-stars was won by Alex Palou in Thermal, Calif.
The two-time and reigning IndyCar champion, Alex Palou, won the Thermal $1 Million Challenge on Sunday in dominant fashion.
The race at the members-only Thermal Club was for 12 drivers who earned their way into the main event through a pair of heat races earlier Sunday. However, some of IndyCar’s top names didn’t advance out of the heats, and the “A Main” had a mix of competition levels.
Alex Palou, one of three Chip Ganassi Racing drivers to make the main event, was never challenged.
The team from Ganassi remarked that Palou made it look effortless and didn't even break a sweat during the race.
Although the race was advertised as a $1 million event, Palou’s actual payout was only $500,000 due to the lack of participation from the Thermal members. Instead, club members were randomly paired with teams for an embedded weekend experience with an IndyCar organization.
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske finished second, Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing was third, Colton Herta of Andretti Global was fourth, and Marcus Armstrong of Ganassi was fifth, receiving the bulk of the prize payout. The remaining 22 entrants were paid $23,000 for participating.
Amidst a nearly $30 million breach of contract lawsuit with McLaren, Palou stated that he'd use his winnings on his newborn daughter to buy diapers and pajamas.
Palou, who insisted his time at the private club was work and not play this weekend, mentioned the tough challenge of managing the tires during the race.
He described the race as a constant struggle to find the right balance and manage the tires effectively.
Herta reflected on the event as a high-risk, high-reward scenario for the drivers, where they had to race hard for the top-five prize money while avoiding potential expensive crash damage to the team. He explained that his car didn't perform well on Sunday, which led him to race aggressively against Alexander Rossi. Additionally, McLaughlin was surprised to learn that the runner-up prize was worth $350,000—$100,000 more than he initially thought.
But it wasn’t all positive outcomes.
Romain Grosjean expressed frustration after being involved in a crash on the opening lap of the first heat race, highlighting the significant cost of the damage for his small team.
After walking from his crashed car back to pit road, Grosjean questioned who would cover the cost of the damage since the event had no points on the line and the team did nothing wrong.
He remarked that the situation was not what he anticipated with IndyCar.
The event aimed to be distinctive in every aspect, beginning with the format. The dozen all-stars advanced into the “A Main” by finishing in the top six of one of two heat races, which were 10 laps or 20 minutes, whichever came first.
The first heat quickly went wrong on the 17-turn, 3.067-mile race track when Dixon bumped into Grosjean, causing Grosjean to spin in a multiple-car accident. Dixon was penalized for causing the collision, while Grosjean, who recently switched from Formula 1 to IndyCar, was very angry.
The second heat was without any interesting incidents.
The race, consisting of two 10-lap parts with a 20-minute break, was also uneventful, with Palou leading for the entire time except during the break.
During the break, IndyCar disqualified Pietro Fittipaldi, resulting in a disastrous situation for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, which, along with Ganassi, was the only team to have three drivers in the main event.
Graham Rahal had already experienced a mechanical issue that made him fall behind by a lap, leading the team to withdraw instead of risking penalties or causing expensive damage to the car.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Christian Lundgaard, who was in seventh place at the break, required “emergency service” during the break and had to drop out of the race when it resumed.
