THERMAL, Calif. — A race meant for all-stars was fittingly gained by Alex Palou.

The 2-time and reigning IndyCar champion gained the Thermal $1 Million Problem on Sunday in a rout. Palou dominated the three-day weekend — he was among the many quickest drivers in follow classes and led each lap of something that counted whereas successful his qualifying group, his warmth race and all 20 laps of IndyCar’s first non-points race since 2008.

The race on the members-only Thermal Membership was for 12 drivers who earned their method into the principle occasion by way of a pair of warmth races earlier Sunday. However Scott Dixon, Will Energy, Pato O’Ward and a few of IndyCar’s prime names did not advance out of the heats and the “A Fundamental” was a mixture of competitors ranges.

Palou, who was one in every of three Chip Ganassi Racing drivers to make the principle occasion, was by no means challenged.

“He made it appear like a Sunday drive on the market,” Ganassi stated. “He did not even break a sweat.”

Though the race was billed as a $1 million occasion, Palou’s payout was solely $500,000 as a result of the Thermal members shied away from taking part within the occasion with an identical buy-in. Membership members as a substitute had been randomly paired with groups for an embedded weekend expertise with an IndyCar group.

Scott McLaughlin of Group Penske completed second, Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing was third, Colton Herta of Andretti World was fourth and Marcus Armstrong of Ganassi was fifth because the purse payout solely went to the highest 5.

Palou, who’s embroiled in an almost $30 million breach of contract lawsuit with McLaren, stated he’d use his winnings on his new child daughter.

“I want to purchase quite a lot of diapers and pajamas, so in all probability I’ll try this,” stated the Spaniard, who insisted his time on the non-public membership was work and never play this weekend.

“It is by no means straightforward,” he stated. “It is all the time powerful to attempt to handle the tires. Am I doing an excessive amount of? Am I not doing sufficient?”

Herta stated the occasion was “feast or famine” for the drivers, who may race laborious for the top-five prize cash or danger costly crash injury to the group. Herta stated his automobile “ate” on Sunday and that is why he raced former teammate Alexander Rossi so laborious, whereas McLaughlin was goaded into shopping for Group Penske beers once they knowledgeable him runner-up was value $350,000 — a full $100,000 greater than McLaughlin believed.

However it wasn’t all rosy.

Romain Grosjean was crashed into on the opening lap of the primary warmth race and fumed about the price of the injury for his small group.

“I imply, who’s going to pay for the injury? We come right here with no factors on the road and do nothing incorrect and the automobile is totally smashed,” Grosjean stated after strolling from his crashed automobile alongside the non-public, members-only highway course again to pit highway.

“It is not what I signed [up for] with IndyCar.”

The occasion was meant to be completely different in each side, beginning with the format. The dozen all-stars superior into the “A Fundamental” by ending within the prime six of one in every of two warmth races. The heats had been 10 laps, or 20 minutes, whichever got here first.

It went awry moments after the primary warmth started on the 17-turn, 3.067-mile raceway when Dixon bumped into the again of Grosjean, inflicting Grosjean to spin in a multicar crash. Dixon was given an avoidable contact penalty as Grosjean, who moved to IndyCar from Method 1, seethed.

The second warmth was uneventful.

And so was the race, which had two 10-lap segments with a 20-minute break — the one time Palou was not out entrance.

IndyCar on the break disqualified Pietro Fittipaldi in a disastrous sequence for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, which joined Ganassi as the one groups to get three drivers into the principle occasion.

Graham Rahal had already suffered a mechanical drawback that dropped him down a lap and led the group to withdraw relatively than take a penalty or danger inflicting costly injury to the automobile.

RLL teammate Christian Lundgaard, operating seventh on the break, wanted “emergency service” in the course of the intermission and was compelled to drop out of the sphere when the race resumed.