IndyCars Go! Tensions Rise at Thermal Club Thursday and Friday
Thursday and Friday are the preseason racing events you do not want to miss at the mind-blowing Thermal Club of California, where Indy Cars will get their first taste of 2023 in practice laps. This is your opportunity to hear the roar of those beautiful Indy engines- as we await the beginning of the first day of racing.
Thermal Club will be hosting IndyCar for the first time, and no one really knows what is going to happen there or if IndyCars are a good fit for this exclusive - all be it- amateur track.
But there are a bunch of people who want to give it a try and find out and they will be doing their best over the next two days. And we will have an excellent show- no doubt and a lot to talk about.
Here is the schedule of how it is supposed to unfold over the next two days:
Thermal Open Test Color Schedule - Draft_Original Document_m72269
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NBC reported on the excitement so far, and from their coverage- it looks like IndyCar just may blow the doors off the place:
Quantity isn’t a problem for NTT IndyCar Series drivers seeking source material for their first test on track at The Thermal Club. There’s plentiful video of the drivers making laps on the private track that bills itself as a world-class facility.
It’s quality that’s an issue with trying to do homework for their first (and possibly last) test on the 17-turn, 2.9-mile road course.
Thermal is billed as a motorsports country club of sorts, giving the rich and famous an opportunity to drive and store vintage cars at racing playground that has more than 200 members and $5 million, 30,000-square-foot homes sprouting constantly.
IndyCar’s arrival Thursday and Friday for its first full-field open test in the preseason since 2020 will mark a new era of professional racing at Thermal, which primarily has catered to amateurs (often in a fantasy camp-type setting).
Colton Herta tried doing some YouTube research on Thermal recently but gave up after watching the third lap of “some dude in a Ferrari” navigating the course that is nestled in the Coachella Valley just south of Joshua Tree National Park and north of the Salton Sea.
“It’s difficult to watch some of the onboards because it’s not really professional drivers, and they have like the cones set out on the track, where to turn in and where to get on the brakes, so it’s kind of irrelevant,” Herta said. “Yeah, I watched a little bit before I got too bored and turned away. But the track walk will be important. That’s going to be the biggest thing.
OH! The DRAMA! This is going to be interesting... the excitement is building for fans, drivers and residents of the club. Check out NBC for more of their coverage.
Marshall Pruett of Racer media posted a link to his excellent article. Check out the layout of the track.
Thermals Club will be a whos- WHO of racing. Look for these teams.
FOYT
RAHAL
And so many others will be participating.
Stay tuned here for all of the coverage we can bring you! Race on Race fans. 2023 IndyCar is going to be epic, and now we can really get started.
IndyCar is really expanding its reach. Check out Indyweek's coverage of the importance of the next two days at this exclusive site and what it could mean for IndyCar in the future: