Palou's domain
In a weekend full of events between F1, MotoGP and Superbike, the motoring Sunday ended with the particular extra-seasonal challenge of IndyCar at Thermal Club. A test that did not earn any points for the championship, but which had a total prize pool of just over 1 million dollars, which is why the Californian event is known as the $1 Million Challenge. It was the winner, or rather, the one who dominated the entire show-event Alex Palou.
Unbeaten since the semi-final
The Spaniard, two-time IndyCar champion and former third driver for McLaren in F1, has in fact secured the victory of the first edition of this race, proving to be the authentic protagonist not only in the final, but also in the second semi-final. In the latter, Chip Ganassi's representative led the race from start to finish, winning the race and qualifying for the grand final together with Marcus Armstrong, Graham Rahal, Linus Lundqvist, Pietro Fittipaldi and Alexander Rossi, i.e. the top-6 who by regulation had access to the 1,756,000 dollar tender, with 500,000 of them going to the winner.
Chaos in the first semi-final
A clean and regular heat, unlike the previous semi-final, with the drive through discounted by Scott Dixon for a contact that occurred on the first lap with Romain Grosjeanwith the former F1 driver who, in the carambola, hit innocently Rinus Veekay. In addition to this episode, the continuation of the mini-competition did not experience any other twists, with the victory of Felix Rosenqvist and the access to the final of Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Christian Lundgard, Augustin Canapino and Colton Herta.
The final
The best of the Thermal Club, all gathered for the final act, then completed a 20-lap race, with a break at the end of the 10th to top up the fuel, but without changing the tyres. Tire management successfully completed by Palou, who dominated the test from the green light to the checkered flag. IndyCar will return to the track in Long Beach on April 21, this time for a championship weekend.
$1 Million Challenge 2024: final standings
| POS. | PILOT | TEAM |
| 1 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi |
| 2 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske |
| 3 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank |
| 4 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global |
| 5 | Marcus Armstrong | Chip Ganassi |
| 6 | Linus Lundqvist | Chip Ganassi |
| 7 | Alexander Rossi | Arrow McLaren |
| 8 | Josef Newgarden | Penske |
| 9 | Christian Lundgaard | Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
| 10 | Agustin Canapino | Juncos Hollinger |
| 11 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
| 12 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Rahal Letterman Lanigan |
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