Why IndyCar's $1 Million Challenge at Thermal Club Is Such a Big Deal

• The “big” thing about this non-points race is the $1.7 million purse, one of the biggest in IndyCar history.

• It will be 20 laps on a 3.067-mile road course. Only 12 drivers will participate in the feature.

• The Thermal Club is a very high-end private community with an initial membership expenditure in the $5 million range.

Here’s perhaps the best way to think about Sunday’s Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge IndyCar exhibition race in the California desert near Palm Springs:

It will be like a PGA Tour tournament played on a pristine golf course surrounded by palatial houses you can’t afford with ticket prices that scorch the wallet.

The exhibition race, the first in IndyCar since a 2008 visit to Surfers Paradise in Australia, is precisely that—an exhibition. It will be 20 laps on a 3.067-mile road course. Only 12 drivers will participate in the feature, which is expected to be over by the time you gather your beverages and chips and settle into the recliner.

The “big” thing about this non-points race is the $1.7 million purse, one of the biggest in IndyCar history, with about $500,000 going to the winner. The size of that prize has created more than a little talk about how the race will progress, as drivers decide whether to risk expensive machinery in a late-race battle for positions when no series points are available.

First place will pay a lot, but is it enough to put a tire where it might not fit?

The race is a true outlier for IndyCar. The Thermal Club is a very high-end private community with an initial membership expenditure in the $5 million range (including the purchase of a residential lot and house). Spectator tickets to the race are limited and costly (about $500 each) and generally are targeted at club members and their guests.

The club is designed for car enthusiasts and amateur racers. The property has a variety of race courses, garages and storage facilities that house dozens of expensive performance vehicles.

The 3-mile course that will be used Sunday is rated FIA Grade 2 and has had modifications for IndyCar, including additions of tire packs and extra runoff spaces. IndyCar president Jay Frye said the road course does not need SAFER barriers.

“The track will be in great shape,” Frye said. “They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do, and safety is obviously paramount in everything that we do.”

Drivers are expected to reach speeds of more than 200 miles per hour on the course’s longest straight.

Former driver and broadcaster Townsend Bell described the course as “the kind of facility that I think Carl Fisher (Indianapolis Motor Speedway builder) would build if he was alive today. It’s a clean slate. It’s a big vision.”

The race is a bridge of sorts between the March 10 IndyCar opener at St. Petersburg, Florida (won by Josef Newgarden) and the next points race, scheduled April 21 at Long Beach, California. In addition to giving drivers and teams track time during a long inactive stretch, the event also fills a time slot Sunday for NBC, which will broadcast the race against a packed schedule of NCAA tournament games.

“There’s a lot going on in American sports this weekend and this time of year,” said Penske Entertainment president Mark Miles. “So you kind of work for what you think gives you your best opportunity both from the point of view of the teams and the fans who will be there and the television audience.

“We never thought of it as 'let’s see how many people we can sell tickets to to be there for this. It’s normally a private facility. It was meant to be a kind of high-end hospitality offering. So it’s a little pricey.' ”

The course will be open for testing Friday and Saturday before Saturday night qualifying. Two 10-lap heats are scheduled Sunday morning. The top six finishers from each heat will race in the 20-lap feature (12:30 p.m. ET). The main event will be divided into two 10-lap runs with a 10-minute “halftime” break.