Category: Auto Racing

Rosenqvist, Palou Win Poles for Thermal Heats

thepitwindow

The Thermal Challenge weekend got very interesting tonight as qualifying for tomorrow’s heat races took some interesting and surprising turns.

Group 1 looked to be a team Penske front row sweep as Will Power and Scott McLaughlin held spot 1 and 2 in the early laps. But Felix Rosenquist saved the best until last and grabbed the top spot for Heat 1 tomorrow.

McLaughlin finished second, and Rinus VeeKay will start third.

The top 6 for Heat 1 features all three Penske drivers and representatives from Meyer Shank, Rahal, and Ed Carpenter Racing.

Group 2 qualifying looked to be a McLaren front row with Callum Ilott and Pato O’Ward. But a red flag with 1:19 to go caused by Marcus Ericsson’s spin and tire barrier contact set up a one flying lap scenario. Ilott and O’Ward chose not to go back out.

Palou grabbed the ole with the session’s fastest lap. Ilott and O’Ward faded to 8th and 9th, respectively.

The top six has three Ganassi cars, two Rahal machines, and a Meyer Shank entry.

The pole for the main race will be the heat winner with the fastest qualifying lap. If Palou wins his heat, he is on pole for the feature event.

Notes

I thought the qualifying was better than I expected. The eight minute periods added a sense of urgency to each group. Having push to pass available made for some different strategies. Indycar may want to look at these new wrinkles for future qualifying sessions.

I have a feeling Felix Rosenqvist is just getting started, and the rest of the grid better watch out for him. He qualified on the front row at St. Pete and won a pole today. His teammate, Tom Blomqvist, also was in the top six in his group.

What a horrible weekend for Andretti. The cars are slow, and both Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson had contact in separate incidents. Ericsson’s car got the worst of it. If this event returns, the teams outside the top 5 are going to need much more than $23,000 each.

I hope this is not the last time we see Callum Ilott in Indycar this season. He led one of the practice sessions and nearly took the pole for one of the heat races. Someone needs to find a spot for him.

I am more enthused about the races tomorrow than I was before the weekend started. Sunday has the potential to be a lot of fun.

Results:

Tomorrow’s action begins at 12:30 pm Eastern on NBC and Peacck.

Lundgaard Late Lap Tops Practice 4

thepitwindow

Christian Lundgaard turned the fastest lap of the two days with about five minutes left in Practice four to edge Team Penske teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin.

Power had led most of the session. Practice started late because if high winds which blew sand across the track occasionally throught the two hour session.

Qualifying is up next at 8 Eastern.

Results:

Qualifying groups:

Ilott Nips Palou in Practice 3

thepitwindow

Callum Ilott edged Alex Palou for top honors in the third session of The Thermal Club Million Dollar Challenge. Palou grabbed fast time early as he did yesterday, but Ilott, arguably the best Indycar driver not driving full time in Indycar, passed him before a 50 minute stoppage to repair broken asphalt in turn 5 halted action.

Ilott and Palou are the only drivers to turn a lap in less than 99 seconds.

Indycar extended the session by 15 minutes, but the extra time was chewed up by red flags for Romain Grosjean, who spun and stalled, and Kyle Kirkwood, lost control in turn 8 and made rear contact with the armco. The damage was not serious, and Kirkwood returned for the final 15 minutes of practice.

The final two hour practice session begins at 4 pm Eastern, followed by qualifying at 8 Eastern.

Results:

Palou Stays on Top

thepitwindow

Today’s schedule: All times Eastern

Alex Palou repeated fast time in Friday’s second practice session as the Indycar concluded five total hours of testing at The Thermal Club.

Combined Session results:

Notes

The qualifying rounds have been shortened to 8 minutes from the originally scheduled 10 minutes at the requests of teams and drivers. High tire degradation was the reason for the change.

Felix Rosenquist continues to fit in well with his new team as he was in the top 10 all day.

Callum Ilott is doing a great job for Arrow McLaren filling in for David Malukas.

Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren appear to be the strongest teams so far this weekend,

Qualifying, Heat Groups Set for Thermal

thepitwindow

Groups have been set by random draw for the Thermal Club $ Million Dollar Challenge.

GROUP 1:

Newgarden

McLaughlin

Power

Dixon

Herta

Kirkwood

Lundgaard

Rosenqvist

VeeKay

Grosjean

Canapino

Ferrucci

Siegel

Robb

GROUP 2:

Palou

Armstrong

Lundqvist

Simpson

O’Ward

Rossi

Ilott

Ericsson

Rahal

Fittipaldi

Blomqvist

Rasmussen

Braun

Group 1 will be Heat 1; Group 2 will be Heat 2.

The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge Fast Facts 

thepitwindow

From Indycar:


 Race weekend: Friday, March 22 – Sunday, March 24
Track: The Thermal Club, 3.067-mile, 17-turn road course (counterclockwise) in Thermal, California

Race distances: (Two Qualifying Heats) 10 laps / 20 minutes) | (Sprint for the Purse) Two Segments (10 laps/ 30.67 miles each) with 10-minute halftime after Lap 10
Push-to-pass parameters: 40 seconds of total time for each qualifying group, heat race and both segments of the final.
X: @TheThermalClub, @INDYCAR, #ThermalChallenge, #INDYCAR
Instagram: @TheThermalClub, @INDYCAR, #ThermalChallenge, #INDYCAR
Facebook: @ThermalClub, @INDYCAR, #ThermalChallenge, #INDYCAR
TikTok: @IndyCar, #ThermalChallenge, #INDYCAR
YouTube: @INDYCAR
Event website: www.thermal.ccINDYCAR website: www.indycar.com
2023 race winner:NTT INDYCAR SERIESInaugural Event
Qualifying record:NTT INDYCAR SERIESInaugural Event
NBC Sports telecast: Races, 12:30 ET Sunday, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe.
Peacock Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test sessions, qualifying session, heat races and the final Sprint for the Purse will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside turn announcers Ryan Myrehn and Jake Query. Michael Young is the pit reporter. The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge, Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test sessions and qualifying session air live on SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218 and SiriusXM NBC Sports Audio 85, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (All Times Local):

Friday, March 22
9-11 a.m. –
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test, Peacock2-5 p.m. –
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test, Peacock

Saturday, March 23
9-11 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test, Peacock
1-3 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Open Test, Peacock
5 p.m. – $1 Million Challenge heat race qualifying (two groups / 12 minutes each), Peacock

Sunday, March 24
9:24 a.m. – $1 Million Challenge Heat Race 1 “Drivers Start Your Engines”
9:30 a.m. – NBC on air
9:31 a.m. – $1 Million Challenge Heat Race 1 (10 laps / 30.67 miles / 20 minutes / Top 6 advance to Sprint for the Purse),
NBC
9:58 a.m. – $1 Million Challenge Heat Race 2 “Drivers Start Your Engines”
10:05 a.m. – $1 Million Challenge Heat Race 2 (10 laps / 30.67 miles / 20 minutes/ Top 6 advance to Sprint for the Purse),
NBC
10:52 a.m. – $1 Million Challenge Sprint for the Purse “Drivers, start your engines”
10:59 a.m. – $1 Million Challenge Sprint for the Purse (Two 10-lap segments with 10-minute halftime after Lap 10), NBC (Live)

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:· The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge will be the first non-championship NTT INDYCAR SERIES race since 2008. With a total payout of over $1.7 million, it is the largest non-Indy 500 purse for an INDYCAR SERIES event in over two decades. More information on the weekend format can be found HERE. There have been 10 INDYCAR SERIES exhibition races held since 1946, including the Marlboro Challenge All-Star race, which was held by CART from 1987-1992.
NON-CHAMPIONSHIP INDYCAR RACES 1946-PRESENT
YEAR     RACE                                TRACK             WINNER         
1957       Race of Two Worlds         Monza             Jimmy Bryan           1958       Race of Two Worlds         Monza             Jim Rathmann 1966       Fuji 200                        Fuji Speedway   Jackie Stewart
1987       Marlboro Challenge      Tamiami Park  Bobby Rahal
1988       Marlboro Challenge   Tamiami Park     Michael Andretti
1989       Marlboro Challenge      Laguna Seca  Al Unser, Jr.
1990       Marlboro Challenge          Nazareth        Rick Mears
1991       Marlboro Challenge     Laguna Seca   Michael Andretti
1992       Marlboro Challenge      Nazareth    Emerson Fittipaldi
2008       Nikon Indy 300            Surfers Paradise    Ryan Briscoe*
Note: The 1981 and 1982 Indianapolis 500 only counted for the USAC INDYCAR SERIES championship and was considered a non-championship event for CART teams.· Qualifying heat races will return to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for the first time since the series conducted heat races at Iowa Speedway for the 2012 and 2013 events at the track. Two drivers entered have won heat races in their career: Graham Rahal won heat races in both 2012 and 2013 at Iowa while Scott Dixon won a heat race at Iowa in 2013.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES QUALIFYING HEAT RACESYEAR   TRACK                  LENGTH      WINNERS
2012     Iowa Speedway   30 Laps       Graham Rahal (1st), Tony Kanaan (2nd), Dario Franchitti (Dash)
2013     Iowa Speedway   50 Laps       Scott Dixon (1st), Graham Rahal (2nd), Helio Castroneves (Dash)·

INDY NXT by Firestone points leader Nolan Siegel will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES “debut” at The Thermal Club. The California native was the INDYCAR developmental series’ Rookie of the Year in 2023 and tested for Dale Coyne Racing in January. The 19-year-old is scheduled to make starts at Long Beach, Indianapolis 500 and Toronto. 

Thermal Club Event Hopes to Give Indycar a Boost

thepitwindow1 Comment

I don’t know if this is exactly a race preview. After all, the misnamed Million Dollar Challenge is 90% a test session with some racing added at the end. The weekend includes nine hours of testing and three hours of a condensed race weekend.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this competition. there are many pros and cons to staging a program like this.

Pros-

More Indycar exposure on NBC,

An early season weekend filled with more than just testing, filling a hole left by Texas dropping off the schedule. There is still a 28 day gap to Long Beach.

The smaller teams will get a chance to sort some things out.

Cons-

How hard will teams actually race? With 16 races remaining on the schedule, how much risk to equipment is a team willing to tolerate?

This track appears to be one where passing is difficult.

Ticket prices are exclusionary. Even though the price has dropped from $2,000 to $500, the lower price would barely get a fan into an F1 race. Southern California is not the most economical place to visit, either.

Still, I am intrigued by the concept. Some of the ideas might be tried out in qualifying somewhere. I like the push to pass in qualifying idea. Perhaps the series might try to make P2P available for the final five minutes of the first three rounds of qualifying ay a regular race somewhere.

I remember the heat races that were tried at Iowa a few years ago were not that popular with fans or drivers. They were pretty much follow the leader affairs.

I do like the no fuel saving aspect, and that tires cannot be changed during the race.

Let’s see how it works out. At least Indycar is doing something different.

Notes

“100 Days to Indy,” season 1 will begin streaming on Netflix April 4, It is currently streaming globally on the CW streaming app and Paramount +.

Season 2 premieres April 26 on the CW at 9 pm Eastern and Pacific.