{"id":16247,"date":"2024-03-20T09:23:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T08:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/?p=16247"},"modified":"2024-03-20T10:23:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T09:23:30","slug":"eyes-on-the-prize-rosenqvist-braced-for-indycars-1-million-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/eyes-on-the-prize-rosenqvist-braced-for-indycars-1-million-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyes on the prize: Rosenqvist braced for INDYCAR\u2019s $1 Million Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Non-points round<\/strong>
The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge (USA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a strong start to the season two weeks ago in St. Petersburg, Felix Rosenqvist returns to action in a unique format this weekend in a quest for cash instead of points in the INDYCAR $1 Million Challenge.<\/strong>

Staged at The Thermal Club private track in California, INDYCAR\u2019s first non-championship round\u00a0since 2008 features a battle for fortune and glory, with over\u00a0$1 million on the line in the series\u2019 largest-ever prize purse outside of the Indianapolis 500.

Further adding to the novelty of the showcase event \u2013 which does not count for championship points \u2013 it all plays out in an exciting new knockout format, culminating in a 12-car, 20-lap shootout.\u00a0

\u201cThis will be a bit of an experimental weekend where there is less on the line in terms of points, but a million dollars up for grabs, which is crazy!\u201d\u00a0says Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong>. \u201cThe weekend format is also new, so whoever figures out everything the quickest will probably walk away with the cash. Let\u2019s bring it on!\u201d<\/em>

The event begins with four open test sessions, leading into qualifying on Saturday which will set the field for a pair of heat races to take place on Sunday. These heat races will be contested over 10 laps, or 20 minutes, with the first six finishers from each heat moving on to the\u00a0\u201call-star\u201d\u00a0feature race. It will mark the first occurrence of heat races in INDYCAR competition since 2013\u00a0(Iowa Speedway).

The 12 drivers\u00a0advancing\u00a0to the finale will then engage in two 10-lap segments, divided by a short\u00a0\u201chalftime\u201dbreak where refuelling\u00a0and small set-up changes\u00a0will be allowed.\u00a0The winner of the second 10-lap leg will take home\u00a0$500,000 with $350,000 going to the runner-up and $250,000 to the third-placed driver.

MORE:<\/strong> Full rules and format explanation – The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Rosenqvist arrives at The Thermal Club, which staged INDYCAR\u2019s official pre-season test in 2023, fielding high hopes after a promising first outing with Meyer Shank Racing\u00a0in the St. Pete season-opener<\/a>, where he set a new lap record in qualifying and eventually finished seventh to clinch the team\u2019s best result in almost two years.

The Swede\u00a0will again be carrying the Bon Jovi Radio (SiriusXM Ch. 312) colours on his MSR #60 machine during the\u00a0$1 Million Challenge weekend.

\u201cIt will be really interesting to race at Thermal for the first time,\u201d\u00a0Felix Rosenqvist adds<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cWe of course had\u00a0the opportunity to test\u00a0there\u00a0last year, so it\u2019s nice going into the weekend with some sort of familiarity, but racing at the track will be\u00a0a different story.\u00a0I can\u2019t wait to try it out!\u201d<\/em>

The first pair of open test sessions to commence the weekend will take place on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


TIME TABLE<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

All times local (U.S. Pacific)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Non-championship round<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge<\/strong>
The Thermal Club (USA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday 22 March<\/span><\/strong>
Open Test 1: <\/strong>9:00-11:00 am
Open Test 2: <\/strong>2:00-5:00 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday 23 March<\/span><\/strong>
Open Test 3: <\/strong>9:00-11:00 am
Open Test 4: <\/strong>1:00-3:00 pm
Qualifying: <\/strong>5:00-5:40 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday 24 March<\/span><\/strong>
Heat Race 1 (10 laps): <\/strong>9:15-9:35 am
Heat Race 2 (10 laps): <\/strong>9:45-10:05 am
All-star Race (10+10 laps):<\/strong> 10:50 am<\/p>\n\n\n\n


TIMING: <\/strong>INDYCAR App \/ racecontrol.indycar.com<\/a>
HOW TO WATCH:<\/strong> view here<\/a>
ENTRY LIST: <\/strong>view here<\/a>
TRACK DATA: <\/strong>view here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a strong start to the season two weeks ago in St. Petersburg, Felix Rosenqvist returns to action in a unique format this weekend in a quest for cash instead of points in the INDYCAR $1 Million Challenge…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19],"tags":[130,134],"class_list":["post-16247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news3","category-press-releases","tag-2024-ntt-indycar-series","tag-indycar-1-million-challenge","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"aioseo_notices":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16247"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16299,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16247\/revisions\/16299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}