Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
After three weeks, the NTT IndyCar Series returns to action today for the first Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix.
Nestled in the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, California, The Thermal Club is an exclusive country club for automotive enthusiasts. Members have a permanent residence at the club, with the opportunity to take their exotic automobiles onto the various layouts of the course. On the premises, BMW and Mini have Performance Driving Centers, allowing for non-members to race on the track.
IndyCar first came to Thermal in February of 2023 for two-day, “Spring Training” test. In September of 2023, the series announced the Thermal Club $ 1 Million Challenge, a non-points, made-for-TV, race to be held in between the Grand Prix of St. Pete and the Long Beach Grand Prix, in 2024.
Alex Palou took home the cash in 2024 leading all 20 laps in the main event and returns to Thermal in 2025 as one of the favorites, coming into the race with a win in 2025, at the season opener in St. Pete on March 3.
Palou will start third on Sunday, after topping the charts in practice on Friday and placing second on Saturday morning, proving that there is speed in his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
The three Andretti Global drivers of Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson, showed that they can contend for the race win, as they made up the rest of the top four in the first practice.
“I mean, good start for all the Andretti cars. All in the top 5. Just happy with that,” Herta said after practice. “This is a place where we tested, so really wanted to start off on the right foot. If we’re not quick right away after a place that you’ve tested at, it’s a little disappointing. You scratch your heads a little bit. So to start off that way is a little bit expected because we tested here, but it feels good.”
Herta, Ericsson and Kirkwood start fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively.
Arrow McLaren drivers Christian Lundgaard and Pato O’Ward also showed great pace on Saturday, with Lundgaard topping the second practice charts, and both drivers taking front row in qualifying, with O’Ward putting his No.5 Arrow Chevrolet on pole. O’Wards time of 1:39:95 made the difference over Lundgaard’s 1:40.1245. This gives O’Ward his sixth career pole and first since Mid-Ohio in 2022.
“Glad to be back here towards the front of the field. Great job by the guys and gals in our McLaren Team Chevy,” O’Ward said. “Team Chevy lockout along with our McLaren lockout. Super pumped. Really happy with how we turned things around. I would say we didn’t start the day amazing. Q1 was kind of getting there. We just made a bit of an adjustment, and it just brought the car alive in Q2. It felt good.”
While McLaren was celebrating a front-row lockout, another Chevrolet team in Team Penske had no reason to celebrate. The three Team Penske cars of Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden and Will Power, did not advance from Round one in qualifying. This is the first time a Penske driver has not advanced from round one since Portland in Sept 2021.
McLaughlin spun out on his first attempt in round one, but was not able to recover to post a worthy time of advancing, resulting in a 25th starting spot. Newgarden starts in 17th, the highest of the Team Penske Chevrolet’s, with Power starting in 21st.
“We were good in every single session except the ones that counted, ” Power told FOX Sport’s Kevin Lee. “That’s been our whole year so far.”
With all of the storylines in place and the field set, the inaugural Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix should provide a mix of intrigue and excitement as drivers battle tire wear once again. Expect the alternate, red tire, to be taken off as quick as possible for the drivers that decide to start on it, as the primary, black tire looks to be the preferred race tire.
Coverage for the race kicks off today at 11 a.m, on FS1 with the morning warm-up and then race coverage beings at 3 p.m. on FOX.