On Sunday, the NTT IndyCar Series visited The Thermal Club in Riverside County, California, for the $1 Million Challenge exhibition non-points race. Click here for the full results.
This exhibition race felt out of place where only the members of the club and selected observers with deep pockets could go and watch rather than fans attending a race. IndyCar had the right idea, but the outcome of the race felt like watching F1 with follow the leader racing if you can call it that. This race was hard to watch on television no matter how much the NBC crew tried to hype up the race. And they did try.
IndyCar clearly wants to follow NASCAR’s lead when it comes to exhibition races. This race should have been for points counting toward the championship and not a random race that has no meaning behind it other than money and bragging rights. Drivers comments clearly showed their displeasure in how the schedule of the race went, amount of laps, no paddocks for the teams, and those attending the event.
Many fans and writers alike do not mind having exhibition races if it is going to lead to adding more races to the schedule in the near future. The Thermal Club just does not cut it and the series should have considered other racing venues where fans could attend.
There are plenty of racetracks in the United States that would love to host an IndyCar race such as New Jersey Motorsports Park and Virginia International Raceway, or returning to Michigan, Pocono, Homestead, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Pikes Peak, or Sonoma Raceway that would have made the all-star exhibition race much better and well attended than what we saw on Sunday.
When it comes to the all-star race, if IndyCar wants to continue this route, they should make it part of Indy month leading to the Indianapolis 500. Heck, have them race the road course while adding another road course or oval track that counts toward the season standings.
The Thermal Club racetrack should be a one-time thing and done with but the thought of exhibition races should continue down the road if it helps them get more races on the schedule. IndyCar needs to get their season schedule up to 20 or 25 races and experimenting with these exhibition races should continue for the foreseeable future.
