Was this the best North America’s premier open-wheel championship could muster? And at what cost?
When IndyCar announced the $1 Million Challenge in a made-for-TV spectacle at a club track outside of Palm Springs, California, it came with unpleasant realities: the need to fill a five-week gap in the schedule between St. Petersburg and Long Beach following the loss of Texas Motor Speedway, as well as alienating a portion of the fan base with limited attendance and $2,000 ticket prices (later reduced to $500).
The weekend was certainly memorable, highlighting the good, bad, and ugly of the series in its current state.
Before we get too down about the event, let’s take a look at the bright spots.
The qualifying format was the best part of the weekend, and it appeared to be popular with the drivers. The field was divided into two groups, each with eight-minute sessions and 40 seconds of push-to-pass, and one set of tires with significant degradation around the 17-turn, 3.067-mile circuit, putting the driver under pressure to maximize everything in a single no-holds-barred flying lap.
This concept received so much praise that some drivers expressed an interest in seeing it implemented in championship rounds as an alternative to knockout qualifying.
One of the best ideas this writer heard all weekend came from a media colleague, Steve Wittich of Trackside Online, who suggested that a one-shot style solo run with push-to-pass in qualifying could be effective at certain venues, such as street courses. The top six drivers will then compete in a Fast Six shootout for pole position.
Livestreaming nine hours of Thermal testing was a good idea. The Indianapolis 500 is a must-see for die-hard fans throughout the month of May. If IndyCar wants to make other races feel important enough to matter, it must increase its presence at events.
Beyond that, pairing drivers and teams with club members for the weekend was a fantastic idea. To be honest, it’s something that should be available to more people than just the top 1%, and it’s worth considering for expanding interest and reach.
Make it through a contest or something like that. Obviously, participating in engineering debriefs during a championship finale is out of the question, but how about each team having a meet-and-greet with a fan or two and then having them wear a headset on the timing stand or in the box during qualifying or the race? Even rotating a new fan every practice day of the Indy 500 would pay off.
You can lay a solid foundation by introducing people to the sport, which will result in lifelong fans. And who knows, maybe by chance it helps trend things to a more youthful audience, which the sport also requires moving forward.
The fact that the format was revealed only a week before the event suggests that no one knew what to do. Add to that the seemingly endless number of off-the-cuff changes that occurred throughout the weekend, and it was clear that no one in IndyCar had any prior experience with a unique format that included heat races and a split final.
Given that the changes were occurring in real time throughout the event and that passing was extremely difficult, why not include some sort of field inversion wheel? Imagine how exciting it would have been if Alex Palou had to – and could – fight through the field from fifth in the final 10 laps and make a late charge on the leaders instead of walking off.
While this was ultimately an NBC decision, who has ever heard of holding a ‘all-star’ race at 9:30 a.m. local time?
Obviously, making an event on the West Coast a night race is impossible given that the majority of IndyCar fans who watch on television live in the Midwest, but it didn’t feel like this was given a fair chance to get off the ground.
The rushed timeline to get everything in and out made it feel as if it didn’t matter, so it wasn’t surprising when Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern revealed that the race received only 816,000 viewers across NBC and Peacock.
Also, I don’t want to hear that $500 for a ticket was a good deal for the weekend at Thermal because of the endless tacos and ice cream available from food trucks, as well as the booze and paddock access. The tickets were limited, and with travel to a more expensive area, the trip would easily cost $1,500 (at least) to attend. This event is not for everyone, but racing should be accessible to all. Period.
The $1 Million Challenge winner received $500,000, but finishing outside of the top five proved difficult for many teams. Those who finished sixth or lower, including not even making the final, received a payout of .$23,000 each from an overall purse of $1.756 million.
Simply put, the low-end payout was insufficient to cover the teams’ travel expenses, which included everything from transporting equipment across the country to housing personnel in hotels.
Multiple teams told Motorsport.com that they had no desire to compete in the event and would have preferred to opt out, but they were required to do so.
Now, combine that loss with a few other facts, such as leaving the weekend with a damaged racecar. Who’s going to pay that bill?
